Is Chess really a waste of time?

I think everything other than chess is useless. For example, if I studied medicine...how in the world is this going to help me play the Sicilian any better? Its useless.

samzworldz, check out proverbs, also I was commenting on the OP's question, not bringing up a religious debate. Perhaps you should re read my post carefully to figure that out. This is not meant to insult you, and I thank you for worrying about my soul, but I assure you, you misjudged the content of my post. Thanks, and good luck to you.

chess is a waste of time

How can you 'waste time'?  All we have is the current moment, you have to be doing something, even if it's nothing. The only way you can 'waste time' is if you had a goal you set to get something done, in which case you could say you 'wated time' if you did not move closer to that goal. But you didn't really waste it, it still happened and you were alive in the moment.

As Douglas Adams observed "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so"

I could find a use for money, it seems to have no use for me though.

And general smarts dont make you smarter in CHESS.

So who needs it?

well if you are not earning money from chess ,yes it is waste of time but everyone has to make time for himself ,so this is my hobby do not important what people think ,i am not a soccer fan but chess

Douglas Adams suffered from illusions

chess was invented by martian brainsuckers

compared to tons of cash and a lot of chicks of curse its a waste of time, compared to everything else i find chess far superior even though i cant play chess.

methane i think

it shows.

good one

Any time not spent at the chessboard, is time wasted!!

Maybe it would be best to define our term, "waste of time," before even beginning to suggest whether chess is or is not a waste of time.  I might say: A waste of time is to spend time, according to one's own internal forum, that is wasteful to that person.  

awesome pic

Interesting that chess.com allows that pic to remain but deletes anything not derogatory. Would seem a fair standard would be to delete all references

I think this is precisely the issue -- time passes regardless of what we do. It cannot be manufactured, stored, or even spent at a rate that differs from the rate of its passage.

Some activities are generally considered to be more productive than others, so there is a continuum of sorts with regard to how effectively (or productively) time us utilized.  Those activities that are considered to be least productive, are generally considered to be wastes of time.  This is how all resources are effectively utilized or "wasted".

The issue is that the very definition of what constitutes "production" is almost infinitely subjective.  Those that view the generation of material growth as the definitive determinant of production will have a very different take from those that view personal peace and happiness as being first and foremost.  Compounding this is the fact that it's even possible to hold multiple views depending on the context.  So it can be entirely situational.

The bottom line?  The whole thing is entirely subjective.

Chess.com deletes anything not derogatory?  Man, I must have some thick skin because I'd struggle to find offense in very much of what's posted here.