It’s probably good for the brain especially for senior citizens. But honestly it’s a waste of time if you’re not making over hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing chess. Definitely a waste of time if you can’t improve your score or on studying and taking lessons. Also honestly I think it’s a waste of time if you’re under 2000 rated including myself LOL. But I’m addicted to chess. It’s the only thing I do I don’t play other games or video games. And once my kids start playing I’ll just focus on them playing chess.
Einstein called chess a waste of time, what do you think?
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MindControl116 wrote:
Optimissed escribió:
MindControl116 wrote:
staples13 escribió:
As far as expanding one’s intellect and cognitive abilities? Yes a giant waste of time.
as far as providing entertainment? Not a waste of time
Debatable.>>
It's just wrong. Hardly debatable. Einstein may not have been the brightest star in the intellectual cosmos and he was certainly very fixed in his views. He was stupid on some levels.
When I said debatable, I was referring to the former claim in the quote, not the latter. This is my fault for not clarifying.>
Exactly, and that was the claim that chess doesn't develop cognitive abilities, which is a stupid and ignorant claim, isn't it? It can be debated, sure, but it's the same as saying that exercise doesn't develop your muscles or eating too much doesn't make people fat.
Aug 4, 2018
0
#224
CelticG wrote:
Apparently this is what Einstein said about chess. 'I do not like this kind of struggle. The reasons for my dislike of chess are, above all, ethical concerns. The main goal of the game is to beat the opponent by applying different tricks and deception'.
The Private A Einstein by Peter Buckey
But other sources say that he used to play with friends and that he taught kids how to play. It seems as though the guy was a bundle of contradictions! Whether he liked chess or not is hardly important.
Einstein and Lasker (world chess champion 1894-1921) were good friends, as a result Einstein taught kids how to play it but they had a falling out (I don't know the details) and therefore this is probably what led Einstein to have a disliking to chess and say 'I do not like this kind of struggle. The reasons for my dislike of chess are, above all, ethical concerns. The main goal of the game is to beat the opponent by applying different tricks and deception.'
CelticG wrote:
Apparently this is what Einstein said about chess. 'I do not like this kind of struggle. The reasons for my dislike of chess are, above all, ethical concerns. The main goal of the game is to beat the opponent by applying different tricks and deception'.
The Private A Einstein by Peter Buckey
But other sources say that he used to play with friends and that he taught kids how to play. It seems as though the guy was a bundle of contradictions! Whether he liked chess or not is hardly important.>>
If he wrote "The Private Einstein" then he should be aware that Einstein was a deceitful person by his very nature, who cheated on his wives multiple times and caused the suicide of at least one woman, who happened to be a relative. It can be argued that he was deceitful on many levels and in many ways, and was definitely not a nice person at all, so it seems that our Mr Buckey has been picking a few cherries for his book.
MindControl116 wrote:
Optimissed escribió:
And very notably, Einstein didn't credit Maxwell and others, which was a bit fraudulent in itself, even in those rather lax times. There's no doubt that had he acted the way he did these days, he'd be in prison for quite a range of crimes.
Okay, this is just false. I understand the fact that he probably didn't admit his wife helped him, and I understand he wasn't the nicest person in the world, but he did credit Maxwell and other physicists who contributed to his work alright. In fact, the literal fundamental postulate of special relativity as Eisntein proposed it was that the equations of Maxwell were true in all inertial frames of reference. In doing so, he credited Maxwell. Listen, I didn't go to university to study his theories and read the papers and review its evolution just to have a couple of conspiracy theories saying he didn't credit the people who provided the theoretical foundation for his theory to be possible.>>>
Actually, you seem to be the conspiracy theorist. Although I'm not always big on Wiki articles, you could educate yourself beyond even your present achievements by reading this Wiki article and then following up on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_priority_dispute
You know, the following story is extremely relevant to this thread. After my son was born I didn't know whether he would be academically gifted but as usual, I hoped for the best. His mother is very bright and my son seemed intelligent but when he was about eight years old I really thought that he wasn't being stretched enough by his schoolwork so I sort of insisted that he took up chess. He played more or less enthusiastically until he was about 13 and he did beat some of the stronger players at our club and he won a quite big tournamant for youngsters in England. In the end he told me one day that he wanted to give up chess and do BMXing instead, with his friends. I was happy because he was 13 and a growing boy should be developing his body at that age, rather than his mind.
The point is that he went on to get a first class masters degree in mathematics and then a PhD in theoretical (quantum) physics from one of the best universities in the uk. I honestly don't think he would have achieved all this if he hadn't played chess. He didn't even study physics at school by the way, and yet he educated himself to first degree standard in one term at St Andrews. I really do put all this down to his playing chess at the right age, for about five years, which developed his cognitive and intellectual abilities. Above all, I think it gave him an insight that he really could use his mind well, so he had the confidence to achieve all this.
ghost_of_pushwood wrote:
Since we're on the subject of Steinie, what was his connection with this item?...
Switzerland? Or geometry?
Incidentally, a conspiracy theorist is not someone giving the facts as they see them. Logically, the conspiracy theorist is the person trying to discredit someone who is giving the facts as they see them by making the fallacious claim that they are involved in a conspiracy, with the implication that they are not being truthful. It's a form of argument from authority, also.
To quote / paraphrase someone else, "Time you enjoy wasting isn't wasted". What people find meaningful and / or rewarding is obviously rather subjective.
I suppose, though, that it's easier to argue that you are wasting your time on something if you don't get much to show for it. Doing lots of sports is likely to keep you fit, and most people will agree that's pretty neat. Chess though can't guarantee much other than getting good at chess, but there is a chance of new meeting people, which generally is also a good thing.
Anyways, why rope Einstein into this? Sure, the man was smart, but one can only be an expert on so much. Einstein is certainly an authority when it comes to relativity, but not so much on quantum physics, or, well, how to best spend one's time, so throwing him into the discussion seem to me like a red herring.
Optimissed wrote:
Incidentally, a conspiracy theorist is not someone giving the facts as they see them. Logically, the conspiracy theorist is the person trying to discredit someone who is giving the facts as they see them by making the fallacious claim that they are involved in a conspiracy, with the implication that they are not being truthful. It's a form of argument from authority, also.
Err, if I can nitpick what you're describing there seem to be to be more or less the definition of "poisoning the well", a special case of the ad hominem. If you still think it's an argument from authority, though, what authority is the person in question arguing from?
Aug 4, 2018
0
#231
Optimissed escribió:
MindControl116 wrote:
Optimissed escribió:
And very notably, Einstein didn't credit Maxwell and others, which was a bit fraudulent in itself, even in those rather lax times. There's no doubt that had he acted the way he did these days, he'd be in prison for quite a range of crimes.
Okay, this is just false. I understand the fact that he probably didn't admit his wife helped him, and I understand he wasn't the nicest person in the world, but he did credit Maxwell and other physicists who contributed to his work alright. In fact, the literal fundamental postulate of special relativity as Eisntein proposed it was that the equations of Maxwell were true in all inertial frames of reference. In doing so, he credited Maxwell. Listen, I didn't go to university to study his theories and read the papers and review its evolution just to have a couple of conspiracy theories saying he didn't credit the people who provided the theoretical foundation for his theory to be possible.>>>
Actually, you seem to be the conspiracy theorist. Although I'm not always big on Wiki articles, you could educate yourself beyond even your present achievements by reading this Wiki article and then following up on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_priority_dispute
You know, the following story is extremely relevant to this thread. After my son was born I didn't know whether he would be academically gifted but as usual, I hoped for the best. His mother is very bright and my son seemed intelligent but when he was about eight years old I really thought that he wasn't being stretched enough by his schoolwork so I sort of insisted that he took up chess. He played more or less enthusiastically until he was about 13 and he did beat some of the stronger players at our club and he won a quite big tournamant for youngsters in England. In the end he told me one day that he wanted to give up chess and do BMXing instead, with his friends. I was happy because he was 13 and a growing boy should be developing his body at that age, rather than his mind.
The point is that he went on to get a first class masters degree in mathematics and then a PhD in theoretical (quantum) physics from one of the best universities in the uk. I honestly don't think he would have achieved all this if he hadn't played chess. He didn't even study physics at school by the way, and yet he educated himself to first degree standard in one term at St Andrews. I really do put all this down to his playing chess at the right age, for about five years, which developed his cognitive and intellectual abilities. Above all, I think it gave him an insight that he really could use his mind well, so he had the confidence to achieve all this.
No, a Wikipedia article isn't going to educate me, I've been studying this for years, and I can elaborate on the subject way more than the Wikipedia article does. I've read the scientific papers that were published and the disputes around them. This is far more reliable than Wikipedia. As for everything else, it isn't relevant, and I wasn't the one who said that chess doesn't develop cognitive abilities, so I don't know why you're picking me. I hate dishonesty, and you're being dishonest right now.
Aug 4, 2018
0
#232
Chess takes time away from more important things the chess player could be doing instead. But also keeps the chess player away from things worse than playing chess. So, it is a waste of time. And, it is not.
Aug 4, 2018
0
#233
Yea. For him and may be other scientists. For an average person it's a good hobby to keep brain sharp and focused.
Did he really say that.
Aug 5, 2018
0
#235
kaspariano escribió:
Chess takes time away from more important things the chess player could be doing instead. But also keeps the chess player away from things worse than playing chess. So, it is a waste of time. And, it is not.
Are all forms of entertainment a waste of time, then? This is the problem with that argument. Chess is unequivocally in the category of entertainment. They all share on thing in common: they aren't important. So if chess is a waste of time because you're not doing more important things you could be doing, then this applies equally to all entertainment.
"Chess is a waste of energy, and therefore, a waste of mass." - Albert Einstein
Aug 6, 2018
0
#237
He probably wasn't any good at chess, and probably got beaten all the time by his wife who was much smarter than he was. It's sour grapes!
Has anyone identified a location and specific quoted sentence for this wasted-time thing?
Optimissed wrote:
gingerninja2003 wrote:
50% of Einstein quotes are made up. >>>
No, it's at least 80% imo. And the quotes are used to promote atheism, religions, pantheism, determinism, agnosticism, standard cosmological principles, anti-standard ones ....... you name it.
I think is 200
Apparently this is what Einstein said about chess. 'I do not like this kind of struggle. The reasons for my dislike of chess are, above all, ethical concerns. The main goal of the game is to beat the opponent by applying different tricks and deception'.
The Private A Einstein by Peter Buckey
But other sources say that he used to play with friends and that he taught kids how to play. It seems as though the guy was a bundle of contradictions! Whether he liked chess or not is hardly important.