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Do Americans have hobbies anymore?

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RogueScholar
I'm with AMBy on this one, as a homeowner I'd have to say that my house and property are really my only major hobby at this point. Anything I could do for recreation seems markedly -EV when compared to making tangible improvements around the house, or just maintaining what I've already done. Fishing, hunting, sailing, golf and dirt bikes, I've dumped significant amounts of money into all of them, but I just can't sustain the interest anymore. I'd rather expand the chicken coop or continue building my sauna, then get high and watch some TV afterwards. If this makes me a lazy, disengaged American, I truly couldn't care less. Perhaps one day I'll have a boyfriend who enjoys some of my old hobbies and I'll pick them up again, but until then I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by just keeping to myself and working to make my home the best place in the world for me to be.
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I watched a show about your neighbors the other day on TV. They were promoting marijuana growth in the Emerald Triangle. Now I understand why you used to call yourself a farmer. Didn't realize it was legal back then when we were chatting. Looks like a clean good farming business to me.
 
MrX
Each of us evolved and is hard-wired to exist in a close-knit community of around 25-100 people. Everyone we would see on a daily basis would know us intimately and we would know them intimately, and our lives would be intertwined. Seeing someone from outside your society would be a rare and potentially dangerous event.

Being separated from this kind of existence is a very recent development, evolutionary speaking. It took the development of agriculture to start living in bigger groups. I think it's outrageously stressful for most people to live in a situation where they only have a handful (or less) of people that they know intimately and can depend on in a crisis. Even this handful is often scattered over large distances. On top of that, we're thrown daily into situations where we have to interact with total strangers, something our brains find inherently dangerous. It might all sound melodramatic. We're used to all of this stuff. But, I think almost all of us suffer at least a little because of this, and I think a lot of people who suffer terribly though life would be perfectly fine in a small society.
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I think that bolded part is an amazing insight into the human psyche, one reflected strongly in my own life but which I'd dismissed as a quirk of my own personality. I've struggled to interface with modern society all my life without success, and typically my efforts lead me to strict isolation once I finally reached my breaking point for the stress. Going all the way back to my teen years I remember being so emotionally drained from college that mere weeks after commencement I was talking to a couple monasteries in the area, and I ended up spending six months at one as a postulant just to clear my head and find my equilibrium again. For years afterward I struggled to find my place in modern society, but was always stymied by my need to withdraw from the cacophony after only a year or two.

On the flip side of the coin, I can tell you that modern society has even poisoned the small insular societies remaining in the industrialized world. We've only had broadband internet and cellular phone service in my area for the last 8 years, but in those eight years the very fabric of the village has been completely obliterated. This area used to revolve around institutions like the local Masonic Lodge and a calendar full of traditional social events designed to draw everyone together. Since the internet came here, those events look like ghost towns. The village is now half-full of people who don't belong here, who just moved up here to telecommute to fancy jobs in the city and take no interest in being part of the community. People who were previously the glue which held everyone together have either given up or moved away at this point. I had no appreciation for the destructive impact of technology on human society until I was able to watch it for myself.

Even though things have changed a lot, I'm living proof that people who suffer in modern society can live almost pain-free lives if they're willing to walk away from the convenience of it all. While living in Portland, I was constantly seeking escapes from the torment of constantly being on guard, which eventually left me addicted to meth and heroin in the process of self-medication. Once I moved back to the forest here, the imperative to get high to escape completely fell away, and I was able to get clean on my own, without rehab or supervision. Now, I'm so comfortable in my little corner of the world, where I know almost intimately all the people I interact with on a regular basis, that traveling outside the immediate area is not just a chore, it's a stress unto itself. I miss a lot of the way things used to be around here (you used to wave and smile at everyone you met on the road here, just in case you got stuck and needed their help later; now that everybody has cell phones usually they're too busy talking/texting to even notice you), but I could never trade the peace I found for the convenience of city life and the enhanced economic opportunities it presents.
 
MrX
I am a unique snowflake, dammit.
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Yes you are my friend! OK, I meet you guys further than halfway at this local. No doubt I would highly enjoy RC's and your company there! Maybe you guys wouldn't enjoy mine but you probably know by now I could give a rat's ass!

There's always a Rodney at these type of places to keep me company. Any chance you guys would be buying the first few rounds? It's a place I must visit before I leave this Earth and spend eternity with the Lord and his scantly clad angels.

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reno cool
it's a dangerous concept, not just a brain soothing exercise in my view.
If we even on some small level view these people as part of our group,( and I believe you're right) there's a big problem of disconnect we now feel.
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Well, I think the disconnect was already there, or the shows wouldn't be so popular. It wouldn't surprise me if sitcoms did more good than harm in terms of people's mental health.

Obviously not the best solution, but a pretty easy one.
 
MrX
I think a lot of the tv watching comes down to the same thing that causes most of our emotional woes as modern humans. We're separated from the kind of society that we evolved to be in.

Each of us evolved and is hard-wired to exist in a close-knit community of around 25-100 people. Everyone we would see on a daily basis would know us intimately and we would know them intimately, and our lives would be intertwined. Seeing someone from outside your society would be a rare and potentially dangerous event.

Being separated from this kind of existence is a very recent development, evolutionary speaking. It took the development of agriculture to start living in bigger groups. I think it's outrageously stressful for most people to live in a situation where they only have a handful (or less) of people that they know intimately and can depend on in a crisis. Even this handful is often scattered over large distances. On top of that, we're thrown daily into situations where we have to interact with total strangers, something our brains find inherently dangerous. It might all sound melodramatic. We're used to all of this stuff. But, I think almost all of us suffer at least a little because of this, and I think a lot of people who suffer terribly though life would be perfectly fine in a small society.

Okay, this is getting wal-esque, I'll bring it back to TV. TV is therapeutic in a couple ways. It gives us the intimate details of the lives of reoccurring characters. With just a few shows, we can artificially have a nice 30-person society. It's not close to a substitute, but it's pretty calming to a roughed-up brain.

Also, regularly watching a show, to the point that you can recite catch-phrases and talk to others about the latest episode puts you into a little sub-society with other people who watch the same show. Watch how much people relax when they bond over a sitcom catch-phrase. It's almost startling.
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Then again, maybe people are just attracted to TV out of laziness and convenience. I don't see any evidence of evolution impacting the methods for which our brains approach certain societal situations. There have been civilizations of more than 100 people for thousands upon thousands of years. We've had modern TV for 60 years. Sorry, the math just doesn't add up. If you want to call it an escape like drugs or alcohol, that's suitable, but to call TV an evolutionary crutch is beyond absurd.
 
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Oddly enough reruns of old sitcoms is inevitably what I end up watching when turning on tv. It speaks to how annoying and uninspiring I find the newer programs.

We can't help but create an understanding, or view of the world through what we see. If what we see is made up, crass, idiotic themes and images designed to turn us into materialistic infants, than two things happen.
1. we can fall into line, respect and act like we see "cool" people act in the media.
2. we can become bitter, thinking that the world is made up of retards and boring idiots.
 
Mr. Monkey,
you're alright pal... and Mrs. Monkey.

Perhaps, it's easy for me to discuss policy issues on a large scale. I'm aware that others may have to deal with classless bums and low lives on a daily basis, and tend to want to blame society's ills on them. But I would ask you to consider that those people are very low on the list. They have no power and make no policy decisions. They are themselves victims trying to survive.

I believe if we work to empower people, give them options and respect, instead of trying to hammer them and make them more desperate, a lot of these issues would disappear.
 
MonkeyF0cker
Do children forgo playing on swingsets and in sandboxes for video games because of evolutionary hard wiring? Are they scared to go outside now? C'mon.

Do they watch TV rather than do their chores out of laziness? You betcha.
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It depends with the parents. Our kids can't watch cartoons on weekdays and only 30 min TV max per day. They like to play outside. If you join them outside they will play more. They also have soccer and gymnastics on Saturdays.
 
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