Consumerism vs Collection vs Hobby

idahoguy said:
Buying a knife you don't like and complaining about it is kinda like... well, it's kinda like reading a thread you don't like and complaining about it. :) I've found many of the comments in the thread interesting, some mirror my thoughts, some don't.
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I was referring to keeping a knife or collection one does not like not trying a knife and finding out one does not like it. We all have been here long enough to know the basics of steel in carbon vs stainless but some seem to forget how this thread started in a rant.

I could care less for discussion in all honesty or the sensitivity needed as though carbon vs stainless is really all that important in life. As I'm sure most here will not spend their last seconds on earth wishing they had discussed this more or found insight in the hobby. I'm actually sure most will spend those last days wishing they had not taken this topic so seriously and just moved on. That is my point.

Yet I am only seen as complaining over what I believe is a waste of time in general not just to the hobby
 
Pomsbz said:
Technically yes but a hobby is a distraction. A way to relax, to spend time with things which we wouldn't usually have time or patience for otherwise. Topics that allow us to enjoy ourselves outside of the daily vicissitudes of life. For example I've just finished working a 12 hour work day, it's 8:30pm and I really need to relax. So I discuss carbon vs stainless online rather than thinking of the 2/3 of a million ancient documents still awaiting my attention at work in the museum. :) Earlier this morning I was listening to a lecture on a philosophical topic, a way to gear up my mind to the rather tedious tasks ahead and having to give a serious dressing down to an employee who I might be forced to fire soon. Is a discussion of this sort 'first world problems'? Yes, of course. Is it a useful way to spend time in discussion with our fellow humans in a relaxing way rather than discussing politics? Heck yeah! :D
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One side of the coin. The other if I may and then I'll move on.

I take it you use your knives a lot in the museum? Or as you study philosophy? Heck you may use knives more than any here I don't know. Yet it matters based on perspective. A hobby of collecting is extremely different than a hobby of accumulating or that of using. As a user I have little sympathy with op in how his treasure became less than mint. As a user I see them as tools and am guilty of owning 16 knives 15 more than I need.


I also understand the desire to relax and spend time in a neutral setting and banter back and forth and build relationships around the hobby. Yet when do you see anyone holding each other accountable in the relationship aspect to here. We all cry, "buy more, consume more, spend more time here and justify my actions through you doing the same." We claim relations are important here but fail those relations daily because it's a knife forum.

All I know is this. Great men fall due to becoming passive and becoming entrapped in entertainment. This "hobby" creates both if your not careful and you begin to cry when your treasure forms spots, or seek empathy when you have 70 knives in carbon but have lost interest and call it carbon rant

So yes the hobby can relax but it can relax to the point of threads like this imo where nothing is accomplished other than showing how our value system is extremely messed up.

Anyways I'm done. I don't want to get the thread closed.
 
I think that collecting is far from the end of civilisation, indeed I respect it as a pastime, even if it is not of my own interest being a minimalist personally. I also recognise that minimalism is a result of relative wealth rather than the opposite. The ability to replace a broken or lost item at will and without significant time penalty. Being able to choose minimalism is a luxury of our modern world.

As for usage, I have a disability causing finger and particularly thumb weakness and lack of dexterity which makes even opening a Mars bar almost an impossibility. I use my knife constantly to do tasks which others can do easily with their fingers. Unfortunately due to local carry laws a slipjoint is really my only option. Thankfully it coincides with my aesthetic tastes despite being difficult for me to open. :) I also use my knife constantly with food which is where my personal issues with Carbon and even D2 arrive.
 
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Pomsbz Pomsbz

I never said collecting was. I did say passive and entertained men are a reason for the fall of civilizations. And believe me we live in a world that wants us to be docile, passive, and entertained (distracted)

I also agree that miminalism is a choice and one of the ability to choose, but what I think you are missing is the motive. I see it a moral issue above all else. I choose to keep few so I can turn and help others with the excess. Not build my kingdom and treasure by buying more stuff and help when I can. The more I can live on less the more I can help others. How does owning a collection really help anyone?

I see some collections and just think how that could be used to pay the salary of a doc in a 3rd world and the lives it could save.

One of my main reasons for even being on this forum is to find ways to help others but that is getting harder and harder.

I don't think you and I are far apart in thought but there are differences to why.
 
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To me it is a hobby. I like having something to fuss over that isn't destructive.

DYI PCs and programming are my other hobbies.

I have to have something to do all the time or I get bored.
 
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