Is Chess A Waste of Time? A Call To Action

I used to work for a newspaper, and one of our editors told me that people with advanced degrees are the worst spellers. Also, I'm not sure you wanted to use the word wanton. 

It depends what you consider a waste of time. Well chess, like art, music, or poetry, has the power ro make one happy. If you do not enjoy feeling happy, then you might consider chess a waste of time. CHess has the power to make one happy or sad depending on the way you handle it. If you consider emotions a waste of time then everything is a waste of time. It depends on you completely. And I also agree with other members who have posted things like: beauty can be expressed in the form of chess, or what is considered a waste of time. anything could be a waste of time, or even Yes! But what isn't a waste of time."

It all depends on your opinion. WHat do u consider a waste of time. That is what matters. 

Musing over questions like this might just be a waste of time.

You can't answer this for anyone else, you're not accountable for anyone elses time or how they spend it.  There is no universal answer to be unveiled.  Only you can answer for yourself. 

If you like Chess it's not a waste of time.  If you don't then it is a waste of time. 

You are probably right electric pawn about people with higher degrees being the worst spellers.

I used wanton in the sense of -wasteful, squndering, piddling away (which I especially like), gratuitously cruel and obsolete.

Will the problem be gone/solved after going back from your chessboard? Or does it get worse because you don't immediately take some action?

It is okay to say that chess is good because you can use it to run away to when you have a problem. But will we say the same thing about dope.

Is Chess A Waste of Time?

Any activity can be a waste of time. But chess has the potential to be one. It takes hours just to play one turn-based game. It takes years just to improve a few percent of the chess mastery. And it is addictive like computer games.

If I play a computer game, I cannot stop until I "complete" all the level. But it takes only days. And I know that I cannot stop (and cannot sleep) until I solve the game so I make myself to be the only one who don't play computer game at work (except chess hehehe).

But then the more important question is whether we can control ourselves from any kind of addictions. Those who can control themselves tend to take chess lightly, those who cannot tend to actively play chess. So, that's the answer :P

I agree totally fnewman, I am addicted, but unfortunately, not good.

chess is no more a waste of time than golf, just you don't get wet - well not on the outside anyways

Tondal: someone's come strongly down against the philosophers.  You've got to give them their props though; they've had a lot more influence on society than one might think, both for good and for ill.  (Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Locke, John Stuart Mill, Neitzsche, etc).  Besides, to be fair though, if one was to take a look at the entire human race, you'd see a lot of pompous, self-important windbags, and most of them won't be philosophers.

From the little philosophy I have studied, this, like so many other debates has an aire of the Cartesian anxiety about it- either this or it's that, allowing for no middle ground- there might be an area of grey, where chess might well be a waste of time for some but not for others, just as philosophy is a waste of time form some but not for others, I am not sure however whether chess or philosophy are a waste of time for me- I don;t think either is, but then I do dress as Napoleon.

There've been a lot of philosophers! It's just most of them are so pompous and so windbaggy that our annoyance is 10x that of the average run-of-the-mill windbag.

hee hee

 For me, its less  a waste of time than golf. A few pars and I wouldn't mind getting wet!  

This I agree with.  Playing chess is way funner, and actually leads me somewhere that also is fun.

Its simple really; if you enjoy chess then it is not a waste of time for you.....

Also, I do believe chess can strengthen your mind/intellignce or what have you. I am not saying you are not smart if you are not good at chess or vice versa, but it can improve certain aspects of intelligence to a certain degree.....

I find Jeremy Bentham to be more interesting than John Stuart Mill, but that's a personal preference.

The premise here is that you're wasting time by devoting effort to a quiet, contemplative activity rather than pursuing wealth or social good. I wonder if this is the legacy of the protestant work ethic in America and less of an issue in other countries.

electricpawn: Bentham too.  I'm just listing philosophers who had a major impact on their societies (Benthem definitely qualifies as well.  Forgot about him).

For example, Plato and Aristotle really shaped how we view the universe as a whole in western society.  Rousseau, Montesquieu and Locke did a lot to influence the anti-monarchist sentiments of the eighteenth century: the ideas of Montesquie (divided government, balance of power) and Locke (natural rights) pretty much inspired much of the United States' political identity whereas Rousseau was a driving force behind the French Revolution.  Similarly Benthem and Mill did a lot to shape 19th century Britain (especially Benthem).  In addition, talking from this perspective, you have to throw in Marx, whose influence might be as great as anyone in the modern era (conflict theory, communism, etc).  Not saying that I agree with him (I find issue with most of what he said), but you still cannot deny the scope of his influence...

And personally, I prefer Mill but, as you stated, it's a matter of personal perspective.

Bentham doesn't seem to have the same insite into actual emotions and judgements of people due to his lack of personal experience in such matters. That and Mill is estimated by modern psychologists to have one of the top 5 IQs in history (right behind another philosopher, Goethe). But one might wonder.... for being so bright, why is it these types of guys can't write a discernable sentence?

It was recommended to me to take up a mental exercise like chess to stave off advancing senility but all it's doing is confirming it.