What's the point of playing chess if computers are always going to be better than us?
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For weeks I've been wondering: What's the point of trying to improve at chess or trying to make new contributions if everything we do will always be surpassed by a conputer? Why should we even play if we know that we will always be inferior to Stockfish or AlphaZero or Komodo? We can't make any significant contributions to chess because now, humans are inferior.
So, please, answer me, what's the point of trying to improve if everything humans do will already be surpassed by a computer?
Apr 28, 2018
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#2
Ahat do you mean "inferior"?
Can a chess engine create poetry?
Can a chess engine cure disease?
Can a chess engine save a life?
Can a chess engine make a historic discovery?
Can a chess engine appreciate a childs laugh?
Why would anyone consider themselves "inferior" to something that does one thing?
Sorry, I didn't express myself very well. I meant inferior in chess, not in other aspects in life.
Apr 28, 2018
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#4
Because we find chess fun, that’s why we play it, who cares what the engines are gonna do. That’s like asking why do people run, we have cars and planes. Why do people bother doing pretty much anything, we can just get machines to do it for us. We should all just sit around and become fat, old men and women.
Apr 28, 2018
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#5
The chess engine has no emotion, it’s a lifeless piece of software, it’s a tool for humans, nothing more nothing less.
Apr 28, 2018
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#6
What's the point of playing sports if machines can hit, throw, kick, etc. better than us?
The point is to see how much we can achieve as humans.
The same is true with chess: it's the same thrill of victory and agony of defeat.
It's also the same satisfaction that, win or lose, you are able to grow in ability.
Apr 28, 2018
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#7
Just because there are 3000 ELO engines doesn't mean a 1300 human player should stop improving, much worse: stop playing like you're trying to imply, right?
Apr 28, 2018
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#8
Leonel9717 wrote:
For weeks I've been wondering: What's the point of trying to improve at chess or trying to make new contributions if everything we do will always be surpassed by a conputer? *Snip*
You've been wondering about this for weeks? Why I know people who wondered for much shorter as well as longer. What's the point of wondering then?
Hess will have a fit if he sees this.
And never trust a conputer. It's probably cheating with an engine ...
Apr 28, 2018
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#9
I can't run as fast as a car,so should I quit running for fitness and enjoyment?
magictwanger wrote:
I can't run as fast as a car,so should I quit running for fitness and enjoyment?
yes you probably should, cars have you already beat. im just kiddind but they do have you beat that no joke. continue running if i gets you joy but just remember a carcan run faster than you can lol.
Sep 28, 2022
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#11
Leonel9717 wrote:
For weeks I've been wondering: What's the point of trying to improve at chess or trying to make new contributions if everything we do will always be surpassed by a conputer? Why should we even play if we know that we will always be inferior to Stockfish or AlphaZero or Komodo? We can't make any significant contributions to chess because now, humans are inferior. So, please, answer me, what's the point of trying to improve if everything humans do will already be surpassed by a computer?
Because playing Chess is fun.
Oct 3, 2022
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#12
mkerr10 wrote:
magictwanger wrote:
I can't run as fast as a car,so should I quit running for fitness and enjoyment?
yes you probably should, cars have you already beat. im just kiddind but they do have you beat that no joke. continue running if i gets you joy but just remember a carcan run faster than you can lol.
cars dont run.
Oct 3, 2022
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#13
Your goal should be to be better than your human opponent, not a computer... And people play games/sports for fun and health... Would you stop playing soccer or basketball in the park if one day someone makes a robot better playing than Lionel Messi ?
I'll be 70 years old soon and I remember the first time I'd ever heard of a chess computer for sale to the public in the 1970's when I was in the Marine Corps. I was totally facinated that I could buy a chess computer that I could play against. I still have the Chess Challenger 7 (1979) stashed away and haven't played with it in many years. I didn't really start playing chess until I went into the military and started playing in some tournaments when I got out.
Back then and until the late 1990's chess grandmasters had sort of an aura about them to us lower rated players and I really thought until Gary Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in 1997 that it would be impossible for any computer to beat a GM, much less the world champion. When he lost that match and everyone came to the realization that computers would actually rule over all humans in chess, I felt a sadness. The magic had rubbed off in a sense. I saw Kasparov expressing a similar view in one of his interviews. He was hoping his loss was a fluke and humans would once again dominate computers in chess but he said he soon realized that was in the past.
I understand what you are saying. It is still fun to play chess but to me it never was the same after Deep Blue.
That is probably one reason I got more involved in Backgammon. The best backgammon programs are world class and only an elite player would really have a chance in a 21 point match against one but it is still possible.
The real question is why should you play if people are just born better at chess? You have 10 year olds that are somehow geniuses in chess with barely any practice. Their brains just work better for chess. So why even try? They will always outclass you no matter how much you improve. I guess this also applies to other sports as well.
I’d suggest not looking to total strangers to answer a question you really need to answer for yourself.
Oct 31, 2022
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#19
easytarget wrote:
I’d suggest not looking to total strangers to answer a question you really need to answer for yourself.
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