Einstein called chess a waste of time, what do you think?

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Avatar of Crazychessplaya

It's a waste of energy and consequently a waste of mass.

Avatar of GWTR
Crazychessplaya wrote:

It's a waste of energy and consequently a waste of mass.

Classic!

Avatar of ishotjr

chess is only a waste of time if you have something better to do, which means its not because you don't if you are trolling chess.com, besides if chess was a waste of time, it would also be a waste of space.

Avatar of Ashvapathi

Einstein called chess a waste of time because Lasker called Einstein relativity theory as 'wrong'. And Lasker was right that Einstein's theory was and is wrong. Chess actually has more utility than Einstein's theory because chess atleast provides entertainment and exercise to mind. On the other hand, Einstein's theory has only negative impact of stalling the understanding of physics and zero postive effects.

Avatar of poodle_noodle
Yoloswagger69 wrote:

Einstein called chess a waste of time what do you think?

Not everything that's productive is good.

"Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds"

But sure, chess isn't productive.

Avatar of GWTR

Make chess, not war

Avatar of squaresun

Maybe Einstein created his formula: E=mc2 to mean: Entertainment = Mass (amounts of) Chess squared?

Avatar of Eseles
squaresun wrote:

Maybe Einstein created his formula: E=mc2 to mean: Entertainment = Mass (amounts of) Chess squared?

That makes sense! More sense than what I thought about mc=Magnus Carlen grin.png

Avatar of Drawgood
Yea, chess is a waste of time. Many of us who play chess really enjoy it, so we play. But enjoyment of something doesn't make a time spent worthwhile.

There is another group of people. They really enjoy chess and they want everyone else to play it. Then then try to resort to all sorts of myths and pseudoscience to convince people that chess is something good for kids, good for adults, and especially the worst myth of all, that "chess makes you smart".
Avatar of Goram

The common idea of happiness and pleasure of folks can be very misleading.

Avatar of Elroch

Another way to waste time. grin.png 

(While earning a living and entertaining people. Which is rarely the case with chess, to be frank!)

Avatar of Elroch
Optimissed wrote:
Elroch wrote:

I basically agree with Einstein. In any way that chess is beneficial, there are surely activities that would be more effective. It consumes time, energy and motivation without offering anything but idle amusement in return (excepting the limited possibilities of being a professional which are more a way of fooling keen players trying to justify their efforts). The deceptive attraction of chess is that it is unambiguous and precise, but it is infinitely far from unique in this respect. I think I'll play a bit of blitz now.>>>

Like I mentioned previously, I felt that school wasn't stretching my son in the right ways. He was obviously intelligent but I didn't think there was sufficient stimulus so I got him interested in chess and he became quite a local phenomenon until at the age of 13 or 14, he gave up chess entirely, for bmxing. Of course I supported this, since cycling is great fun and great exercise. He went on to get a first in maths (Mmath) and a PhD in theoretical physics. Now he's in demand as an analyst. I don't believe that this and his playing chess at a young age are unrelated. Chess is not a waste of time but it can be obsessive. It clearly wasn't obsessive in his case. 

A very interesting post. And I say that as a Cambridge Wrangler who was very keen on chess when a teenager (I pretty much gave it up while at University).

Avatar of bruce196057

I think that E=mc squared is a waste of time.

Avatar of Jake8x8

Can something you enjoy doing be a waste of time? I guess it depends on what other things you have to occupy your time (Einstein's theory of relativity). Chess is good for the brain... even more so than engaging in pointless debate (Humperdink's theory of irrelativity)... Personally, I like surfing... good for the soul, however, each to their own... err... except for those who like backgammon they are a waste of time. OK Sarah Sarah...

Avatar of squaresun
Eseles wrote:
squaresun wrote:

Maybe Einstein created his formula: E=mc2 to mean: Entertainment = Mass (amounts of) Chess squared?

That makes sense! More sense than what I thought about mc=Magnus Carlen

lol Eseles, you may be correct as well! After all, isn't a "theory" in the discipline of science merely a methodology that is considered: most accurate and unchallenged? "Law" however, is irrefutable. 

Avatar of Eseles
squaresun wrote:
Eseles wrote:
squaresun wrote:

Maybe Einstein created his formula: E=mc2 to mean: Entertainment = Mass (amounts of) Chess squared?

That makes sense! More sense than what I thought about mc=Magnus Carlen

lol Eseles, you may be correct as well! After all, isn't a "theory" in the discipline of science merely a methodology that is considered: most accurate and unchallenged? "Law" however, is irrefutable. 

Even Laws can be refuted. Science is an everlasting process. It shouldn't be turned into dogma.

Avatar of Elroch

To be precise, the scientific method ensures that well-established laws can only be shown to be not as general or as precise as they could be rather than being "refuted". The reason is that they remain as accurate as they have been before being refined, in the domains in which they have been tested. Science is really all about models that work, not about absolute truth. Eg Newton's laws are not the most precise models available to physicists (not to mention engineers and many others), but they remain the most useful (and ideal) under almost all circumstances.

Avatar of Eseles
Elroch wrote:

 Science is really all about models that work, not about absolute truth.

Would you agree that science is not so much about what is true, but moreso about what is not true?

I mean, better at pointing out the falsehoods than for establishing an absolute truth.

Avatar of sameez1

time is wasting the second you are born so what.

Avatar of Eseles

Some people believe that time is an illusion