Why does society hate chess?

I should have added that over 500 million people in the world have had some experience with chess and that definitely makes it the most played game of all time if not the most popular.

So which half of the kids are defective? The boys or the girls?

The game of Monopoly has been played by more than 1 billion people worldwide and it has only been around since 1933, so it would have to be the most played game of all time. But then I would think Poker or Bridge would be played by even more.

The fact that over 500 million people in the world have had some experience with chess doesn't make it the most populr game either. A lot of people don't even know what chess is. There are games that have been played more than that. You need to learn how to better support arguments. And let's assume chess really was the most played game of all time. That doesn't make the most poupular game of all time. Two comepletely different definitions. That is straw man

I"m not sure who "society" is or how it's defined, but I don't think most non-chessplayers think much about chess. I haven't heard anything negative about it; there are probably a few stereotypes around (many pretty accurate) about intelligent, absent-minded, nerdy chessplayers. But I don't really feel anyone looks down on us. 

Maybe I'm just not good enough at chess to be looked down on.

I am not arguing. Chess is not hated by society. I beg to differ that a lot of people do not know what chess is. That statement is not even quantifiable and you probably need to better support that argument.... Also your post seems to have cut off mid sentence. I got as far as "That is (a) straw man

So the effort you are putting in to arguing that indeed society does hate chess leads me to wonder why you think that? Do you hate chess and if so why are you here? That is not (a) straw man

Are you actually thoroughly reading my comments? I bet not, because my very first response to you, AT THE VERY END, says "But one thing I do agree with is that society doesn't hate chess either." I do not hate chess, I love chess. I am not arguing that society hates chess. That is your straw man, because I'm not arguing that. You're putting words in my mouth. I'm arguing that chess is not that popular as you claim. The statement that a lot of people do not know what chess even is indeed is quantifiable, and very easily. It doesn't take rocket science to figure that out. It only takes to have money in order to travel around the world, and time to learn enough languages so that every time you ask someone "Do you know what chess is?" in whatever language they speak in wherever you are, you can record their answer without any trouble, and then come back. That is literally all it takes. It is very well quantifiable. Now, it may be true that I need more support for the argument, but in that case that wouldn't be much of a problem if I really wanted to prove my point since I can find that evidence of support.

But yeah, I'm not arguing either. You're the one putting words in my mouth. That is the problem.

Because the pieces don't have any limbs to cut up or blow up when they are taken.

Chess is quite victim(s) ,  just disappear with out a trace.  Many believe "How can that compete with games of today"

Super_flash, how is that a paradox? There is no paradox there, only antithesis and maybe irony.

It is only american society, which glorify success and economics, that hates chess. In Europe we are more sophisticated and here we appreciate chess. Especially in Eastern-Europe but West-Europe as well.

I don't think it's fair to say that Europeans are more sophisticated than Americans. They just have a different culture. As for chess, I don't think that there is some hatred toawards it, I'd say there is prejudice and misunderstanding. It's seen as an over complicated game : how many times have we heard people say, when asked to play a game "I'm terrible at chess", thus avoiding playing even one game.

They think being good at chess is closely related to intelligence, so if they lose a game, they will be seen as stupid.

In US "Time is money" and chess is waste of time and money, but for example in Eastern-Europe chess is very popular game in parks.

it's because chess is played by a very rough crowd.

The guestion was "Why society hates chess?". So hates is? Maybe then in US, because someone asks. Why hates? There is difference between cultures. US is POP-culture. Europe is more philosophical, which roots are in an ancient Greece.

it became socially acceptable when we got the world champion

One poster here mentions the dumbing down of the U.S. populace in public, (and possibly private), education.  Another poster stated that people do not want to appear stupid to others.  I agree with both of these suggested reasons.  Many times I have asked another person to play only to be told that they did not play, or were a poor player, or that they did not have the time.  Those who said that they never learned the game, (Chess), said that they thought the game, and I quote, "Too complicated!" 

Another contributing factor is that most people, especially those in the lower and lower middle classes, do not have much downtime.  They are usually too busy just trying to keep a roof over their head, food in their family's stomaches, clothes for the family to wear, keeping the family vehicle on the road, etc.

Also, one must be near a large population center, (i.e. major city), for there to be a chess club where one can play and learn the game.  That usually means a long commute from the rural areas where chess clubs do not exist.

While it is true that getting online is easy and one can find an opponent easily, I just do not feel that it quite the same as playing over the board in person.

I wish all schools mandated chess and kids were taught to respect it and play from an early age; end all this ADD crap.