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The Stoned Hacker @lemmy.world

What's a common occurrence in your hobby that you think shouldn't be?

For me it's driving while under the influence. If you couldn't tell, I like me some ganja. However I have long since held the belief that it is utterly insane to drive while under the influence of most substances, with maybe nicotine and caffeine being the exception. All too often I see other stoners smoking and driving, which I simply can't fathom. I've only operated a vehicle once under the influence and it was just to move a U-Haul around the block to a different parking spot, which was such a scary experience while high that I refuse to even consider getting behind the wheel again while high.

382 comments

  • Another hobby, though I haven't been in a few years is SCUBA diving. I learned how to dive under people who took all of the safety limits and procedures quite seriously. I was always diving in a pair with a person I knew, and we always had a comfort level of communication and teamwork based on familiarity with each other.

    I left that constant diving life, and later to scratch the diving itch I decided to go do a recreational dive in the US. I showed up to the place and got on the boat. On the ride out to the dive site, I was expecting a pre-dive meeting where details would be gone over, and I'd be assigned my partner so we could interact at least a little bit before getting in the water. That never happened. I was waiting and waiting for the meeting to start when the boat just stopped, the people running it announced we were at the dive spot and just started pointing to pairs of people to be "partners" basically as they were jumping off the boat. I'm used to doing an equipment shakedown with a partner, but my assigned partner was some guy who just hopped in the depths and was gone before I could do any of that.

    This was a simple dive to a flat sand bottom. People were mostly looking for trinkets down there. That said, the lack of organization was shocking. When time was up, people just started shooting to the surface. Nobody else was doing safety stops on the way up, and because of me doing it I was the last person out of the water. It was very scary sloppy and I did not go back to any open-to-the-public recreational dives after that.

  • With airsoft, it has to be the fascination with using lasers. There's no such thing as a totally eyesafe laser, just "less harmful ones" and I know that many of the ultra cheap lasers on places like aliexpress are totally lying about their ratings, using lower rating stickers on more powerful lasers. Which is a problem as it's easier to make a brute force amped up laser when you want something bright to appeal to airsofters. The teens buying these lasers have no idea what laser ratings are in the first place anyway, they just buy whatever appeals to their Call Of Duty addled brains.

    In addition to being inherently unsafe, which is full stop reason enough, lasers tend to be pretty useless especially in outdoor games. It is very annoying to be in the woods and randomly get swept by a lasers from somebody far away who doesn't even know where I am. I have literally heard people explain that they find where the laser is pointed by looking for it with their magnified scope. Which is completely insane logic.

    When the topic comes up, laser users claim that they never aim at peoples' eyes. In a game, that's a completely impossible promise to keep. Also some people do intentionally aim lasers at faces for an advantage, and since it's impossible to avoid this whole mess, lasers should be banned entirely.

    (And before anyone mentions the laserbox on my airsoft gun, it's fake. It's a hollow box where I keep the gun's battery for easy access.)

    • I used to play on an outdoor field over a decade ago and still have a vivid memory of this one guy in particular. I distinctly remember that he had multicam EVERYTHING: full MC clothing, a MC helmet, even a MC wrapped Systema. But the cherry on top was a green laser that stayed on 100% of the time. You could see the fucker coming from a mile away.

      He was also a douchenozzle

      • Airsoft runs on the honor system, and you're relying on the honor of sometimes maladjusted teenagers with access to their parents' credit cards. (Not all teens, and sometimes the older players are problems, but to be real 8 out of 10 times, it's a "that guy" teen causing problems.)

        With my 3-power optic I get to see great views of BBs just bouncing off people who are invincible to them.

    • This is a really interesting one i think for the reasons you pointed out above. There is very little safety oversight for this and these people genuinely have no clue how to actually use laser aiming systems. Not to mention that if you have a laser, it should be set up such that you don't need to look for it (especially not with a scope that's mounted parallel to the laser) because it's to help your fine aim. Oh well, i was young and thought tacticool stuff was cool once too.

      • A lot of the tacticool is just dumb and awkward; that's sort of just good fun LARPing nonsense. Some poor choices like not wearing mouth protection are flatly stupid, but at least it only punishes the person making the choice. My problem with lasers is that the person making the dumb choice isn't affected, only people otherwise doing everything right.

        I've actually asked a few fields about implementing no laser policies, but unfortunately owners seem apathetic about having to enforce it.

      • There are these amazing laser based aiming systems out there called "red" "dots". They have the advantage of being better AND not flashing people in the eye.

  • "All the gear, no idea".

    This applies to pretty much every hobby or interest I've had. It describes people who start a new thing, and immediately go out and buy "the best" equipment, which they do not have the aptitude to use.

    For example, a few years ago I started kayaking, and joined a local club which has kit hire available for most kit, especially the expensive bits (kayaks, paddles, helmets, paddles). Kit hire is insanely cheap, literally £1 an item per day, so you'd need to hire a kayak hundreds or thousands of times for it to be cheaper to buy your own boat. Hiring also allows you to play around with loads of different makes, models, and shapes of boat to find what works for you.

    When new people join the club they have two intro sessions, in which, in a purposefully stable boat, best case scenario, they do a mile on calm, slowly moving, water, some figure 8s, and don't capsize.

    Context for people who have never kayaked before, at this stage literally no one can paddle in a straight line. Hell, most people end up spinning around 180 degrees after 3-5 stokes as their dominate side overpowers. Trying to turn the kayak is scary because you have to lean over (like a bike) but you don't want to go for a swim in the river, so you don't lean far enough, which makes the kayak feel less stable. Overall for most people starting out it's an enjoyable time, but with a lot of nervousness and trepidation.

    The club provide a list of kit recommendations for people starting out, all of which is related to clothing to keep you dry-ish, and costs max £100. Both the club officials, and the members, continuously tell people to not go out and buy loads of stuff immediately and how the majority of members hire the boats.

    But every year one or two of the newbies decide they absolutely love it and next week come back having spent a few grand on their own kayak, paddle, and high-spec clothing (dry suits, etc), and proceed to spend the next 2 months absolutely hating their lives because they don't have the skill to paddle the kayak they've bought, continually capsize because it's "so unstable", and ultimately quit through frustration.

    The record for this is when someone bought three boats - whitewater / river, sea, and playboat - each of which require different skills, some of which are mutually exclusive (in a river kayak you lean left to turn left, in a sea kayak you lean right to turn left). To their credit, they've stuck at it, and were either very lucky in buying boats which fit their style, or are just sticking with them and learning how to paddle them through sheer insistence. Either way, fair play.

  • There are a lot of cosplay elitists, that think you need to be a supermodel or look exactly like the character to cosplay them. Bruh, this is about creating art of our favorite Fandoms. I'm allowed to make sexy versions of characters, people are allowed to cosplay characters of different ethnicities as long as there's no blackface, people can make costumes of anyone, even if they don't know every bit of info from the source material. Let people have fun... this isn't about you and all your gatekeeping is doing, is stopping you from having awesome and talented friends.

    • Huh, I guess I’ve somehow avoided those jerks

      My experience is a very inclusive atmosphere. Everyone I’ve met is interested in talking about the source material, or construction techniques, or just wanting to express their love for the character. Yeah sure, Iron Man looks more “real” if the guy looks like RDJ, but Sexy Iron Man gets just as much of my admiration if the metallic finish is great and the LEDs are poppin

      • It may be because I do cosplay erotica for a living, so people assume I'm doing it for money or attention. I do love when they try to gatekeep me and I know more about the Fandom than they expected. These costumes are EXPENSIVE to make, so I'm not going to waste my time and money on something I don't love.

  • There is an often reposted study that shows people who are worse at video games are more likely to harass women. Though these are some issues with the study and it's scope, this more or less matches my experience. However, this is usually transformed via a game of telephone into suggesting higher skilled players are less misogynistic.

    I have played at the top level of multiple games over different genres and it is incredibly misogynistic up there. The key difference is most of the nerds up there are less likely express it so obviously and publicly. In a lot of cases this is purely about self-preservation, teams in competitive games will be collectively penalized so there is a degree of self-policing (nobody wants to have their team disqualified with all that money on the line) and in PvE games there is usually a great deal of time (and lets be real, often money) invested in an account people don't want to lose.

    It's gotten a lot better since the "tits or gtfo" and "there are no women on the internet" days, but the last time I was in these circles was only during COVID and it was still wildly misogynistic behind closed doors.

    • @solitaire @erev Jesus, I had completely forgotten "tits or gtfo." Every now and then I get hit with a reminder of how much more pervasive that kind of thing was as little as 10-20 years ago and it throws me for a loop.

    • I'm really sorry to hear that. its atrocious to see how many people are comfortable just being terrible to people when they think no one is watching

  • I fly a paramotor. For me, it's reckless behavior. Other pilots doing dumb shit like flying over hazards with no "outs". That just means flying in a way where if your motor were to die, you'd be forced to land in a bad place. Causing you to injure yourself or others, and also potentially damage property. Also pilots who are a nuisance and piss off the public. It makes us all look bad.

    A common saying in the sport is DBAD, didyn't be a dick. But some don't abide, and be a dick.

    • I'm a flight instructor, fixed wing. Spent a lot of my 20s around small airports.

      I've seen exactly one paramotor flight in person and it ended 40 feet up a pine tree.

      This guy took off from the grass along the T-hangars heading away from the runway, and made a right turn that took him directly under the Downwind leg for the active runway at a fairly busy uncontrolled airport. He was not carrying a radio. I'm not sure exactly why, I don't know if his engine gave out or if he made some glaringly bad decisions, but he wound up in a pine tree. My understanding is this was his first flight of any kind in any aircraft, and it was made solo in a paramotor at a busy airfield.

      Completely separate story that is related to this one in my mind: I had a couple men walk into our flight school one day. Just walked in; no appointment or anything. Father and son, one in his mid-20s about my age, the other in his mid-50s or so. Turns out they were both mechanical engineers, and they got it in their head they were going to design and build their own ultralight airplane, and wanted to ask someone about the legalities of such. I pulled a copy of the FAR/AIM off the shelf, pointed them to FAR 103, which is the page and a half of federal laws governing ultralights. I also strongly suggested reading FAR 91 and the AIM, and asked if they would be interested in flight instruction. Got kind of a "lol no we have bachelor's degrees." response from them. That was in 2011. Never heard from them since. I wonder if they gave up, or if they killed themselves.

      • My understanding is this was his first flight of any kind in any aircraft

        Probably self-trained, too. That's not uncommon in paramotor. Paramotor can be an incredibly safe, and cheap way to fly. But without good instruction, there's a lot of ways to get yourself killed. Ending up in a tree is probably one of the better outcomes for that guy.

        and it was made solo in a paramotor at a busy airfield.

        I don’t know if his engine gave out or if he made some glaringly bad decisions

        I'm going with poor decision making all around.

        I wonder if they gave up, or if they killed themselves.

        I wouldn't be surprised if they got something built, and scared themselves shitless the first time they got in the air with it and never touched it again.

        Every now and then we'll see a complete newbie ask about building their own paramotor to save some money which is insane because a full, brand new beginner kit costs in the neighborhood of $10k-$15k brand new. Used gear can easily be half that.

        Building your own gear is insanely dangerous, because if it's configured incorrectly, you can easily end up in a dangerous situation like a torque twist where the motor twists the risers of the paraglider and spins you around underneath it. That situation is often fatal. And newbies just don't know these things.

        And the icing on the shit cake is that these types often have a chip on their shoulder. They get indignant that we recommend paying for training and tell newcomers that they don't need to waste the money on training.

        He was not carrying a radio.

        I have a radio, I know how to use it. I almost never carry it just because my motor spark causes so much interference that it makes it unusable. I'd like to figure out a way to shield that interference, but I haven't done it, yet. I fly out of a small, not-busy uncontrolled airport, but I'd really rather not be near an airport if I could help it. I'd much rather fly from just a regular grass field if I had access to one.

  • I think the amount of people who just shit on you for an opinion or theory they disagree with that you have for a game is too damn high.

    • Duh! That's because your opinion is wrong! Yes the creator of the game said xyz isn't cannon, but what do they know? They're just as dumb as you!

      /s

  • Pillow shading and what I refer to as "dull shading" where a person just exclusively uses pure black to shade. The former can look good in certain situations but otherwise looks a bit odd, the latter can make a picture look dirty if they're otherwise using bright colors.

  • I am an ultimate raider in FFXIV. I'll wait hours for a party and people either fuck up and wipe or play way beyond their ability and wipe us. I just want totems or help people close to beating the fights. They are hard. I give them that. But it's super frustrating when you just want people to know what they are doing.

  • On the point of driving whilst stoned. Confidence comes with experience. It may not be safe, but i used to smoke at a friends house and had to drive home. Originally we would make a point of giving it a few hours after the last joint tbefore i left so i could sober up a bit. As time went on that last smoke got later and later and i still had to leave by a certain time. Eventually this evolved into me smoking a joint whilst driving because it just made no difference (seemingly) to drive sober or stoned.

    To your question i would say learning a musical instrument.

    I spent years using a basic yamaha keynoard worth about 200 pounds at the time (when i was young) and until i found i was getting good and was joining a band i just used that. Eventually i bought a much more advanced synthesiser for around 700-800 and still have that 15 years later, im only just thinking about getting a replacement. (I had a few random pianos and synths in between and have a full size (basic) electric piano as well)

    I worked in a rehearsal/recording studio for a few years and played in bands there and it was amazi g how many times you would see a new band of kids come in who could barely play baa baa black sheep but had spent easily 1500-2000 on their guitars and amps and insisted on bringing the amps and full drum kits to jams despite there being some fairly decent kits and and amps in the rooms already which were better for practice.

    Some of them got good, but most of them would try to sell their gear to us before too long.

    Im not saying you need to buy a cheap instrument and use it for a decade like me but dont spend 2 grand out of the gate and expect the skill to just fall into your lap.

    • On the point of driving whilst stoned. Confidence comes with experience

      I can definitely understand what you mean by this, but I think a certain level of confidence also comes from tolerance.

      I don't drive at all, so can't weigh in on that, but I cycle everywhere, and in my youth I would have never considered cycling while stoned, too risky, too dangerous, not fair or safe to others using the paths.

      When I started smoking, I stuck by that statement, I'd give it a full 12+ hours between my last smoke and getting on the bike.

      But just like your example, 12 hours became 8 hours, became 4 hours, and so on, where now I might have an smoke and 40 minutes later get on my bike to go somewhere.

      But then I take a T break, and I pick up a new bag, and I have my first hit in a month or two, and I sit with that high for a while and think to myself "fuck no, I absolutely will not be getting on the bike any time soon, this tiny toke is too much to cycle on"

      Then I'll smoke heavily for the next month, and by the end of the month, my tolerance has increased, and I'm back to riding my bike while stoned (or rather, buzzed, because I'm just not capable of getting as high)

      Do I feel guilty for these decisions because I know it's a big risk? Yes. Do I keep doing it? Also yes.

      But now that I'm in discussions with my doctor about medical dosing, it has raised a very important question - if I use medical marijuana to manage my chronic illness (the one that renders me medically unfit to drive) is the ethical and legal obligation of that treatment plan that I can never ride my bike again? I must always walk or take the bus? The same does not apply for people who use opiate based pain relief or therapeutic ketamine. They are warned not to drive if the meds make them impaired, but ultimately it's their judgement to decide what is "impaired". It will only be externally questioned if there is an accident or a near miss. If I am assessing my level of impairment before I ride stoned, how can I best ensure my capacity to ride in those moments?

      Also answering OPs question, I think this applies to a lot of hobbies, but I notice it a lot as someone who likes to sew my own clothes - the pressure from others to constantly get better, try harder, and keep building those skills.

      I do my hobby because it's fun, sometimes it's fun to learn new things about it, but sometimes I just want to stick with what I know and play in my comfort zone.

      My dad will often look at things I've made this year and say "you made something almost identical 5 years ago, and your stitches are still skew wiff, haven't you learned to blah blah yet?" because his expectation is that I will get better and better with every passing moment as I practice my hobby.

      Similarly, people will tell me that I have "clearly got the skills to make xyz" and I should "challenge" myself. And sometimes I will, but most of the time I retreat to my hobbies because I don't have to challenge myself if I don't want to. I like my hobbies to be no pressure (I go to the gym to push myself, I go to my craft corner to relax)

      You are allowed to dabble, fool around, play, and have fun with a hobby. You are allowed to decide that "getting better" isn't the goal.

      But it seems others will always question this, or suggest you somehow aren't doing the hobby right, or enthusiastic enough about it if you're only ever doing it on a surface level.

      Just today, I managed to get hold of a second hand overlocker, I'm really excited to make things with it, and my co-worker who also sews said "oh that's awesome, the quality of clothes you're going to pull off now that you can surge! I can't wait for the fashion show". She meant that in the most positive way, and I know what she was trying to say so I thanked her and promised her to show her what I was making, but part of me definitely heard "if the quality of your final product doesn't improve as a result of this, you're bad at this hobby, now you have no excuse not to be better than you were before" even though she meant nothing of the sort, and a lot of that was internalised shame because of previous discussions with people who were genuinely questioning my lack of improvement.

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