Playing a musical instrument. “Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”
It’s a hobby that simultaneously brings immense gratifying pleasure to oneself, while being able to share it with others to enjoy. Incredibly fulfilling to get real time feedback of people smiling and swaying their bodies when playing random public pianos that I find (which is also a hobby of mine - seeking out public pianos).
Reading books is the strongest dissociative which is what we crave. Longboarding and welding are also strong options. Hackathons when done right are my favorife social hobby but “done right” may be entirely dead.
I enjoy reading, both in digital and physical mediums.
I visit different libraries in my city 2-3 times a week just to stroll through and open random books. I hope this always remains an option, because there is just something beautiful about opening a book, feeling the pages and even the smell when it is a particularly old book! LOL
In pre-AI days, I'd spend hours each week reading Wikipedia. There are so many topics about so many things in our wonderful world to learn about. Some are really tragic, some hopeful, some are about animals or plants in places I may never be able to visit, and so on.
Currently, I'm enjoying using AI to take me on "journeys" not only around the world, but through time and "dimensions" as well. For fictional works, I can engross myself into their world with a AI and "feel" like I'm there.
Reading is a neat distraction. Before I go to sleep I learn about something cool and interesting and when I have follow up questions, I am able to satisfy my curiosity.
Trail running - without anything electronic. Outside, in nature, alone with your thoughts, slightly uncomfortable, watching the seasons change, random encounters with wildlife, travel opportunities, fun with friends, most of the benefits of exercise, meditative.
2 for me: scuba diving and welding (not at the same time). scuba diving is such a surreal experience and incomparable to anything I've ever done. It's unfortunate that there are no decent diving sites close to where I live. Welding is an incredibly rewarding hobby that makes you forget about everything else because it requires a lot of focus. Being able to join 2 pieces of steel according to your own imagination almost feels magical.
playing music, I have a different appreciation and approach to listening and finding new music. I also found myself supporting new artists and going to concerts more often :)
35mm photography. Complete opposite of sterile/computational photography. The colors are muted and warm and make everybody happy.
The colors coming out of modern Sony/Canon/Nikon SLRs are technically perfect but people tend to prefer their memories with rose tinted glasses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yea, I wish I could do paperbacks but the books I want are often not available in my country and shipping is a hassle so I settle for e-books and it hurts my eyes.
I find e-readers to be a pretty good compromise to reduce eyestrain. Older Kindles are pretty cheap here in the US at least and can side-load free ebooks (e.g. from project gutenberg.) (I guess Amazon may be removing that functionality in newer firmware so you may need to apply a jailbreak to prevent updates/prevent it from being removed.)
It’s a hobby that simultaneously brings immense gratifying pleasure to oneself, while being able to share it with others to enjoy. Incredibly fulfilling to get real time feedback of people smiling and swaying their bodies when playing random public pianos that I find (which is also a hobby of mine - seeking out public pianos).
calling friends on the phone is underrated.
I visit different libraries in my city 2-3 times a week just to stroll through and open random books. I hope this always remains an option, because there is just something beautiful about opening a book, feeling the pages and even the smell when it is a particularly old book! LOL
In pre-AI days, I'd spend hours each week reading Wikipedia. There are so many topics about so many things in our wonderful world to learn about. Some are really tragic, some hopeful, some are about animals or plants in places I may never be able to visit, and so on.
Currently, I'm enjoying using AI to take me on "journeys" not only around the world, but through time and "dimensions" as well. For fictional works, I can engross myself into their world with a AI and "feel" like I'm there.
Reading is a neat distraction. Before I go to sleep I learn about something cool and interesting and when I have follow up questions, I am able to satisfy my curiosity.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50319082
Learn some Japanese. Become less afraid of falling.
Not unexpected benefit, but just knowing more things.
The books that you read, the more things you will know.
The universe is expanding, read and let your mind follow suit.
The colors coming out of modern Sony/Canon/Nikon SLRs are technically perfect but people tend to prefer their memories with rose tinted glasses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
growing and caring for bonsai
But price to pay!