I wonder if some of it is a sort of parallel to the self-image issues called out for young women on social media. In the same way that it used to be easier to be happy about your appearance when you didn't see the genetically gifted on your feed every day, it was easier to feel proud about being good at $job/$hobby/etc when you only had to be better than anyone within 100 miles rather than competing with that one guy who lives 3,713 miles away who hasn't done anything but eat, sleep and blacksmith (or whatever) since he was 3.

Even as an adult, I feel it a bit. You see somebody on YouTube and think the hobby looks intriguing, but feel discouraged because you'll never be as good as someone who made a "make it or break it" bet on the hobby at 12 years old with a parent who was famous in the field.

It seems hard to feel proud of yourself these days in a world where everything you do is judged on a national or global scale instead of your city or county.

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alex43578 an hour ago | parent [-]

Shouldn't you have some ability to be internally/intrinsically motivated or proud of a hobby without comparing on a national/global scale?

Plenty of people played guitar, poorly, even though they could hear CDs of good guitarists. You can blacksmith, poorly, even though someone's making some stunning damascus on YouTube - in fact, it should now be easier to get into the hobby, learn, and connect with others than it ever was.

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everforward 3 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Guitar and art in general is weird because technical skill and commercial success are orthogonal. I grew up on pop punk; anyone with a desire and like 4 hours of free time can basically play Blink-182’s entire discography of power chords.

I wouldn’t even say I can play guitar and I can do an okay rendition of Stairway to Heaven.

It’s easier to get into hobbies, but you’ll also be far more keenly aware of just how shit you are at it. I do hydroponics and YouTube won’t even really show that; apparently if you haven’t upgraded to aquaponics (hydro with fish to poop out nutrients) it’s not even worth having a channel. The algo hasn’t even suggested someone with a normal sized setup. The smallest I ever see verges on a commercial setup. Genuinely I think the smallest setup I’ve seen had a 500 gallon tilapia tank for a reservoir. The larger ones were installing hydroponic power on rivers to run all their pumps and fans for a detached hydroponic grow system.

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jjav 21 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Plenty of people played guitar, poorly, even though they could hear CDs of good guitarists.

I think it is different because that guitarist on the band that released a CD is a famous musician, at least famous enough to get a contract and release a CD. So I, as a hobbyist, don't expect to be as good.

But now there are thousands of regular people non-professional musicians on youtube (or wherever) who are a hundred times better than me, so it can become discouraging.

	▲	alex43578 2 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Ok, so shouldn't those same feelings mean that nobody would go bowling, ice skating, or participate in a team sport? Statistically there'll be someone better than you at the venue.

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swed420 39 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

A common struggle seems to be that for whatever reason, people have tunnel vision on achieving the end result instead of enjoying the path to it.

From a random HN comment not so long ago, I highly recommend this gentle intro to applied Adlerian psychology:

The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi

Not challenging as far as reading goes, but it might hit some people deep enough to only chew on a few pages at a time.