no, they are different!
In the "Hobbies and Interests" forum, they discuss things that interest users (music, books, games, sweets and food in general, and various hobbies), while in the "General Chat" forum, they chat about any topic (wars, problems, polls, questions, and other stuff), but within reasonable limits (there is a chat for absurd and similar topics, maybe in the "Haven" forum, if it isn't closed)...

P.S. Hmm, why am I even answering? You're the one asking and poking around everywhere, haha.