I agree that a lot of these things are terrible as sources of long-term distraction - a vacuous TV show might take my attention while I watch it and a bit after, but the uses of a 3D printer can set me up to nerd-snipe myself for weeks. And even in the short-term, I think they tend to bypass some of my mental 'defenses'; they're pseudo-useful so it doesn't feel like wasted time, and they're below the addictiveness level that triggers my allergy to e.g. freemium games. Addictive games and TV feel like talking to a scam caller, while almost-useful stuff feels like a really good low-pressure salesman.

That said, some of that distraction does actually pay off. (Especially if I can fight the instinct to learn about stuff that needs rarified tools or large-scale projects; I'm not going to build my own airplane no matter how cool it would be.) Being able to graft a tree, tie a fishing lure, or cut a hole with questionable tools are at least usable skills, so if I can to low-tech or relatively commonplace stuff, it's a decent way to channel the urge for distraction into some kind of utility.

I was always interested in electrical engineering and after a couple years of watching stuff on youtube and trying it out myself, all from a leisure time perspective, it turned out I became qualified enough to do it professionally. I've been doing firmware forever and now I design the gadgets too. It has been very valuable.

What EE channels do you like?

Eevblog is the gold standard for us

Maybe it's just because he's Scottish but I find Big Clive much easier to watch. The only sad thing is he doesnt do a larger variety of things.

Australian