Both the old man in The Hobby and former ape in A Report For An Academy have dedicated their lives to a learned behaviour. McCormack calls the old man’s obsession with railroads a hobby—though it is obviously far more than that. Could the former ape’s obsession with living the life of a human also be called a hobby? Compare both obsessions, focusing on the following ideas (and any others you may think of): what the “hobbyist†in each case was before he knew anything of the world he came to be absorbed in; how he learned to be what he now is; what personal price he paid for his success; and what effect his hobby has on others.