What are some good physical hobbies? - Fuck computers tbh

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Eternal Struggler

Human, I remember you're pacifists 👍
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Dec 24, 2021
What are some good hobbies that are as far away from computers as possible?

I mostly work out and jog after work, but other than that it gets boring watching dumb videos online.

Do any of you do cool stuff like arts and crafts? Is there anything in particular that's easy to get into? Cheers!
 
Solution
Does cooking count? Recently I got a cast iron skillet, and I've been having a lot of fun trying out a lot of new recipes. Tried making a steak w/ red wine pan sauce for the first time, and for my friends. I messed up the sear on the steak, but the sauce was a hit. I find that it's a good excuse to learn, save money, and invite friends over (granted I ask for some grocery money).
If you are in a relationship, or dating around, those one off classes, e.g, cooking, dance, pottery, are a nice date and way to try something new.
Does cooking count? Recently I got a cast iron skillet, and I've been having a lot of fun trying out a lot of new recipes. Tried making a steak w/ red wine pan sauce for the first time, and for my friends. I messed up the sear on the steak, but the sauce was a hit. I find that it's a good excuse to learn, save money, and invite friends over (granted I ask for some grocery money).
If you are in a relationship, or dating around, those one off classes, e.g, cooking, dance, pottery, are a nice date and way to try something new.
 
Solution
I got into biking. I started as a way to physically run away from my problems but idk I kinda get why people do it.
Ive never understood 'working out', but biking is different because youre always going someplace. Like to me driving to a gym to work out then having to drive back or whatever, sounds stupid, Id argue that's specifically why people think its such a chore to exercise. But biking, you can just walk out your door, hop on and start going somewhere. Youre not like jogging in place looking at a screen or on a peloton or whatever. Youre going up and down, hills through your neighborhood, cutting across streets, you can get pretty fast too, you can really feel like youre flying. Ive kind of started wanting a dirtbike even.
 
Stuff I like to do that isn't computer based: hiking/camping, martial arts, gardening (even if you just have a couple of plants on a windowsill it's nice to care for them), drawing, cooking new dishes, brewing wine. The last couple of years I've been investing in nicer quality tools (knives, kitchen utensils, DIY/gardening tools etc) and learning how to take really good care of them which is quite rewarding in itself.

I'm also trying to learn to knit but I fucking suck at it, it does not come naturally to me. Though if at first you don't succeed yadda yadda
 
Hiking
Woodworking
Writing (on actual paper. Caligraphy and poetry come to mind for that kind of purpose)
Stuff I like to do that isn't computer based: hiking/camping, martial arts, gardening (even if you just have a couple of plants on a windowsill it's nice to care for them), drawing, cooking new dishes, brewing wine. The last couple of years I've been investing in nicer quality tools (knives, kitchen utensils, DIY/gardening tools etc) and learning how to take really good care of them which is quite rewarding in itself.

I'm also trying to learn to knit but I fucking suck at it, it does not come naturally to me. Though if at first you don't succeed yadda yadda
I second gardening: I have a tomato and some peas on my windowsills that are doing really well.
Also sharpening blades with an actual whetstone. I took some time overhauling all my kitchen knives with one. Its quite a rewarding feeling when your knife suddenly can cut effortlessly with nearly no pressure through paper and tomatos. Figuring out how to properly use a whetstone and how to sharpen a blade takes some time though.
 
This will depend completely on the area you live in and also probably your assigned-at-birth gender, but:
- Someone mentioned woodworking, working with hand tools is very meditative and successful carpentry will instantly reverse years worth of trans ideology's effect in a man. Wood is unbelievably expensive these days though.
- Other miscellaneous repair shit. People are awful at fixing things, a multimeter, a soldering iron, and some basic tools will fix 99% of all electronic tools and hardware people throw away. You will immediately realize why humanity uses so much resources when you start taking things people are throwing away apart, seeing how not-broken they are.
- Gardening/landscaping
- Even if you are by a computer, play instruments. The thing is that then integrates the woodworking and electronic repair bit because then you can start fixing/refinishing/adjusting your own instruments which saves money.
- Foraging, that really depends on the area. At minimum you can probably collect dandelions or something, you can eat the petals off those things you know. Make wine with it too.
- Cooking, which then is helped along by gardening and foraging

That's the problem though, is that if you live in a bughive city your options for sane activities away from people will be extremely limited, vs. suburbia, vs. the country.

I think people can find things to do with themselves naturally, it's just that in the city you wind up with activities that literal motherfucking prisoners are limited to, like working out and doing really basic games/crafts. Imo that really says something.

Also sharpening blades with an actual whetstone. I took some time overhauling all my kitchen knives with one. Its quite a rewarding feeling when your knife suddenly can cut effortlessly with nearly no pressure through paper and tomatos. Figuring out how to properly use a whetstone and how to sharpen a blade takes some time though.
Use your honing steel often between sharpening too, it's that ribbed metal rod everyone blows off that straightens the edge on the blade.
 
I like thrifting. Wholesale stores and second-hand shops are always fun to explore because each one is different. I also like taking things apart that I find at said stores. Old computers are the most fun with interesting components to learn about. There's always some machine being sold at thrift shops that works just fine but it doesn't have a trendy exterior so people don't want them. Sometimes you can flip things too. I bought a $30 Winix 5300-2 (retails $200) and $30 Gateway 2-in-1 laptop (retails $200) that I regularly use now.

I want to get into soldering to do more elaborate fixes because most "old" (4+ years) cellphones and tablets with non-removable lithium batteries have dead batteries soldered on.
 
Dancing.
Learning how to dance was the best decision I've made in my life.
90% of my friends I've met in some way through dancing, either by training/competing with them or by impressing them with my moves.
Women love a guy who can dance, seriously.
It keeps you fit.
You really don't need to follow the rules of any dance unless you choose to compete, you can just turn on your favorite music and try to interpret in through movement.
It makes you confident, there are a lot of insecure people these days, dancing many times in a social setting, especially if you get good at it, can literally change you as a person.
Highly recommended.
 
Use your honing steel often between sharpening too, it's that ribbed metal rod everyone blows off that straightens the edge on the blade.

I tend to use a strop rather than a steel, doesn't even need to be impregnated with stropping compound just a nice bit of rough leather will do for quick edge maintenance, the only exception to that is cabinet scrapers I use a carbide burr on those though.

I've been using natural stones for sharpening for the last few years and while it's not for everyone if you really get into traditional tools and steels you get a beautiful edge on them when comparing them to diamond plates or the artificial ceramic stones on older steels the modern plates an stones just chew threw the blade to fast for my liking.

I like thrifting. Wholesale stores and second-hand shops are always fun to explore because each one is different.

The big one's by me suck they have loads of rules about what they are allowed to take, and the wholesale places where you rent a shelf / booth etc are all really yuppified and upcycled (often abused), the best ones I know of are all smaller charity shops and car boot sales it's amazing what you can find at car boot sales I got my hands on about 50 G clamps still in the original wax paper mostly for £1 each and I now have no need to buy clamps.

A friend of mine is really intro retro consoles an early computers and he's always buying consoles, games, really old computers like C64's and BBC Micros doing them up an selling them on ebay to other collectors, I think his best find was a load of new in box 5in floppies the dude was about to toss into a skip at the end of the day gave him £1 for the lot and he was happy as a clam as a lot of the older used disks are now wearing out.
 
Fine art like drawing, painting, or sculpting, is something I'd advise an introductory course for: it lets you experiment with multiple materials to see what you enjoy creating with, gets you around people who are doing the same thing as you, gives a nice little foundation for exploration, and you usually don't have to buy more than you need for them. Just learn the basic principles of drawing or working with clay and then you can mass produce random shit and experiment with techniques with youtube videos or just curiosity. Photography would also be fine if you wanted to use big cameras instead of your phone or something you already have, and can teach you technology and composition.

Knitting, crocheting, and other needlework is great for a calming but slightly repetitive task. It's meditative in a sense.

Chess is good if you can find a group or an area that holds chess meet ups. Gaming groups in general are fun if you're a giant nerd.

Worse comes to worse sit around the horse tracks and watch horsies and people. I like driving down rural roads and exploring, seeing a cow relaxes me.
 
Amateur theater is great if you have it in your area. Usually if it has a lot of older (not in their 20s) people in it, the vast majority of them will be pretty chill. Or you could murder a hobo. But back to the theater stuff, even if you don't want to be on stage they always need a lot of help with sets, costumes, a/v stuff (which encompasses a lot of the other stuff already mentioned in this thread). Kill hobos. It can be somewhat people intensive, so if you're against that, it may not be for you, but, honestly, you can be introverted and be a backstage guy; hell I barely talk to most of the ones in my local.
 
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