Remix.run Logo
▲ xpct 20 hours ago

I don't know if it's common but I generally don't like to be bad at my hobbies. I like it when I can do things well. I've been learning the piano recently and striving to play more difficult songs is what makes it fun.

▲jmkr 19 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I keep wanting to say the same thing. In fact, how other people describe hobbies is why I don't like the term hobbies.

I think music is a good example of sometimes you need to not have fun to have fun. Practice isn't really fun, but if you can put up with it you can have a lot of fun. So you can say that the not fun parts are part of the fun parts because it's what gives you the payoff. But when people then go and send you a Suno generated song, and say it's better than yours, it is them devaluing the "not fun" parts you had to put up with. I've had people do similar things to code projects I've done. It's a real buzz kill.

I also really value when musicians critique my songs, even when I feel defensive about it. Because then it's not about them devaluing my time, it's about them helping me grow, and they know how it feels to go through that process.

▲quitspamming 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Not liking being bad at your hobbies is much different than not finding joy in them because people do them better than you. I work harder to be a better cook, it doesn't mean I'm in competition with people who cook better.

▲account42 5 hours ago | parent [-]

And how would you feel when whenever you cooked something for your friends they would turn around and just have the replicator make their favorite dish compared to yours? Humans are inherently social animals so if the social aspect of your hobby (which almost all hobbies have to some extend) suffers then the hobby suffers.

▲quitspamming an hour ago | parent [-]

I would get better friends.

▲nater5000 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Sure. But AI doesn't make you bad at hobbies. It just makes others better at it, and even that is a stretch.

>I've been learning the piano recently and striving to play more difficult songs is what makes it fun.

And are you going to give up learning piano because now AI can just generate piano music better than anything you can ever produce? No? Then what you're doing is a proper hobby, which contrasts with the OP who feels their efforts are no worthless because AI can just do it better. That's not really a hobby; it's a job.

▲doormatt 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

How did AI make you "bad" at your hobbies?

(Apologies if I'm missing your point)

▲xpct 19 hours ago | parent [-]

Hmm.. I meant to make my point in isolation from LLMs. I definitely don't feel that way about learning music.

I do kind of understand it when it comes to programming, though. Hobby-like side projects often felt like they had some utility down the line, even if not directly applied. It's fun to show others what you've accomplished, to show off, maybe land a job from being noticed, etc.