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Help me pick a new hobby

goldenboy

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Hello. So I want to pick up a more intellectually filling hobby than video games. I think I have narrowed it down to three. I can only do one because of time constraints. Becoming really well read (like reading a book a week), becoming fluent in a foreign language (like Mandarin), or becoming really good at playing piano (I took about five years of piano lessons about a decade ago, so I have a strong foundation). So which one would you pick? Thanks!
 

Happy

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Brontosaurie

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It depends on your inclinations. Personally i would choose the piano any day. But if self-expression is of secondary importance to your needs, the other choices offer superior reward.
 

goldenboy

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It depends on your inclinations. Personally i would choose the piano any day. But if self-expression is of secondary importance to your needs, the other choices offer superior reward.

Cool. Thanks for your reply. How would becoming well read offer more reward than piano? Thanks.
 

Ex-User (9086)

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Studying a new language, especially as challenging as Standard Chinese or Cantonese, is the most rewarding and mind expanding out of those three options. It helps with your native communication, memory, imagination, makes you read valuable books you were interested in reading anyway. Once you know two languages, your available perception of the world grows exponentially, it's something priceless to be able to think in two different ways so naturally.

Piano gives you greater dexterity, memory, ability to express emotions, kinesthetic and musical intelligence and possibly enables you to learn music theory and some composition down the line.

Reading depends a lot on what you choose, you may sink in fantasy or sci-fi novels and not really get that much out of it other than verbosity, entertainment and imagination.

Try the language, becoming bilingual is a great boon to understanding the world. Ultimately, why not all of those? It's not like you have to restrain yourself with your hobby specifics and all of these activities can benefit you greatly in very different areas.

You may also think of synergies, in everything you do you might seek to connect various areas of expertise. Maybe when you're practicing piano, reading music related literature would give you inspiration and sensitivity. Studying languages, you may also draw from wonderful foreign literature, or indulge your musical interests in foreign modes of composition or traditions. All those three interests can be connected.

Piano is the most resource restrictive out of the three, since you need to invest in the instrument and carry it around everywhere to continue with your practice. The remaining two aren't as equipment exclusive and don't force you into a dead-end financially and don't limit your mobility either. By dead-end I mean that once you commit it may be difficult to diversify your interests since whatever else catches your fancy could potentially make you regret your initial investment as a result.
 

Brontosaurie

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Cool. Thanks for your reply. How would becoming well read offer more reward than piano? Thanks.

I think it's greater in scope and more appropriate if your goal is knowledge rather than expression. Playing an instrument as a pure technical exercise is menial and largely irrelevant. If, on the other hand, you lean more toward expression, piano seems like the best choice.

In short, piano offers more leverage for expression, and reading or learning a language offers more leverage for direct knowledge and world navigation. It appears to me that your choice very much pertains to such a distinction. Then again, that doesn't mean i'm being effectively helpful.

Ultimately it may boil down to trial and error. As you have experience with the piano, you should know whether it takes you down a path of self-discovery or a path of discipline. If it is discipline, that energy would be better spent on one of your other options.

It's a tough question you ask, got me thinking in circles.
 

Analyzer

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Learning a language. It will expose you to more literature and possibly different music so you can do the other two when you have more time.
 

Grayman

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please list a number of books you would consider reading or at least specify a genre so that I can make an accurate comparison between your listed options. I noticed you were specific with the language, the musical instrument but not the books....
 

goldenboy

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please list a number of books you would consider reading or at least specify a genre so that I can make an accurate comparison between your listed options. I noticed you were specific with the language, the musical instrument but not the books....

Probably mostly nonfiction. The only fiction being the classics like Faulkner, Hemingway, Dickens, maybe some Russian literature like Chekhov. But mainly nonfiction history and politics. Also religion. Currently, I'm leaning towards piano as it has been calling to me lately. But I also would like to improve my vocabulary and speaking eloquence (point reading). Ahhh the woes of being a P and not a J haha
 

TBerg

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I studied Chinese hard for several months in China and still did not get very far. They say it takes ten years to become "fluent," so it might not be very much progress for a while.
 

Happy

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Probably mostly nonfiction. The only fiction being the classics like Faulkner, Hemingway, Dickens, maybe some Russian literature like Chekhov. But mainly nonfiction history and politics. Also religion. Currently, I'm leaning towards piano as it has been calling to me lately. But I also would like to improve my vocabulary and speaking eloquence (point reading). Ahhh the woes of being a P and not a J haha

You're an INTP. Reading nonfiction shouldn't be considered a hobby, but a duty...
 

onesteptwostep

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Theology might be a interesting turn. Most of it is history and how doctrines are formed. Theological development is one of the undercurrents in modern history that preludes a lot of political and ideological shifts.
 

PaulMaster

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I would go with being well read.



I do go with being well read, too.
 

FlorisV

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Hello. So I want to pick up a more intellectually filling hobby than video games. I think I have narrowed it down to three. I can only do one because of time constraints. Becoming really well read (like reading a book a week), becoming fluent in a foreign language (like Mandarin), or becoming really good at playing piano (I took about five years of piano lessons about a decade ago, so I have a strong foundation). So which one would you pick? Thanks!

Reading would be the most intellectually fulfilling of the three, feeding your head. Of course it depends on the books. But the challenge will be to do something with all that knowledge, it's nice if you can share with people. Maybe join book clubs ;-).

More intellectually fulfilling than playing the piano for me (playing became boring) has been to compose electronic music...still use this aweseome program called Fruity Loops (FL Studio).

Learning Mandarin would have the most obvious applications in working life but may be less intellectual unless you'd pick up Mandarin literature.

Do what you love, life is short.
 

rainman312

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Probably mostly nonfiction. The only fiction being the classics like Faulkner, Hemingway, Dickens, maybe some Russian literature like Chekhov. But mainly nonfiction history and politics. Also religion. Currently, I'm leaning towards piano as it has been calling to me lately. But I also would like to improve my vocabulary and speaking eloquence (point reading). Ahhh the woes of being a P and not a J haha
Why so restrictive with the reading choices? There's equally as much to be learned from fiction as there is from nonfiction, and it seems ridiculously foolish to restrict oneself to classics. Many of best fiction books I've read haven't been classics.
 

Happy

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You're an INTP. Reading nonfiction shouldn't be considered a hobby, but a duty...

I agree with this enlightening post.
 

charliepoo

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Geocaching. Punching stupid people in the face. Writing short fiction. Writing a non fiction blog. Reading body language. Fencing. Running. Weight lifting. Chess. Squash. Video games.
 

charliepoo

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Hello. So I want to pick up a more intellectually filling hobby than video games. I think I have narrowed it down to three. I can only do one because of time constraints. Becoming really well read (like reading a book a week), becoming fluent in a foreign language (like Mandarin), or becoming really good at playing piano (I took about five years of piano lessons about a decade ago, so I have a strong foundation). So which one would you pick? Thanks!


I think all 3 choices vary in the feedback. I suggest you do all three and explore other choices that might strike your fancy. Maybe non of these grab you enough to actually pursue so you're stuck mulling on it.
 

Sly-fy

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@Happy - LOL you have a valid point there (both of you.) XD

@goldenboy - I`m trying to figure out how you could maximize your satisfaction given the limited time factor.

If you want to learn a foreign language, you don`t necessarily have to quit video games but incorporate them in your learning, like playing games that are in that language (I personally find interactive experience a much better means of solidifying information in my head than simply reading.)

Or, alternatively, if your point is not necessarily knowing a specific language, you could read books about foreign cultures and that would both fulfill your desire for extra knowledge and help you learn about different cultures (which I assume was what drove you to consider learning languages.)

With music, if you tried to ear-copy what music you hear in a foreign language, and then try to find out what that song is about and also be able to play it on your piano while singing the lyrics, that`d be useful in helping you get a gist of a language as well.

You could mix it up and do one of each on rotating weeks. I hope that if anything, this method of thinking helps you create other ideas that are closer to what you`re aiming for and getting the desired result.
 
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