Chess VS Video Games.... Which Is Easier To Quit?

AI Thread Summary
Chess is often viewed as a safer alternative to video games, which are designed to consume significant time and appeal to base desires. While both can be addictive, chess provides a mental workout that can be completed in one game, whereas video games typically encourage prolonged play. The rules of chess remain consistent, unlike many video games that frequently change, which some argue diminishes the value of adaptability. Critics note that both activities can be engaging, but chess is seen as a more constructive use of time, fostering strategic thinking and social interaction. Ultimately, moderation is key for both chess and video gaming to avoid negative impacts on life.
Bab5space
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Personally I think it is chess. Which also makes it relatively safer to play.

Video games are designed to suck up hours of time, while chess, if challenging enough, is such a mental workout that one game is enough.

Both chess and video games can be addictive, but video games are often designed to suck up lots of time and also be addictive.

Chess was neither designed to be addictive nor designed to attract people for reasons that do not relate directly to the game. Nor was it designed to be long on purpose. Nor do the rules change from month to month.

Video games often sell sex and violence, chess does not. So what you play is up to you, and while the gamer is ultimately respinsible for how much time they waste, I do think that chess is less dangerous in this regard.

Since with video games they are designed to take hours on purpose and appeal to the basest desires humans have. Animal even.

Sure gaming might improve your twitch reflexes.Know what else will plus give you a physical stat boost IRL?

Exercise or sports with friends.

Video games rarely give in boosts other than dopamine.

Chess forces you to think fast if you hace a clock timer and make sacrifices, and sports and exercise have benefits that easily carry into other areas of life.

Both translate into real life. Whereas what we use in video gakes rareky ever does.
 
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I think a lot of people would find ridiculous the thought that chess is a "waste of time".
 
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Chess is traditionally an interaction with another person, so on one level it is different from the traditional video game versus a computer.

That line is blurred in two ways recently, obviously, so I guess a better question from you would be about a person-versus-computer version of each on our phones/laptops? Could you please clarify?
 
berkeman said:
Could you please clarify?
Clarify means. . . to make a (statement or situation) less confused and more clearly

comprehensible.
A spell checker might be a bit useful, also. . .
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. . . might improve your twitch reflexes, to boot . . . . 🤔 . 😛

.
 
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Next up on Which Is Easier To Quit: Gym VS telly.
 
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Bab5space said:
Video games often sell sex and violence
Is that true.
I thought it was reverse.
Can you post a reference where a video game is linked to the selling of sex?
Isn't that illegal?

Maybe you are referring to the odd time gamers might meet up to form a relationship.

I can see the violence part, but that is a twisted mentality to the extreme where someone has the address of a gamer and puts a false call into 911, with the police squat team, having to take it seriously, arriving at a player's residence and investigating. Maybe that is the violence you are referring to, but I wouldn't call that selling violence, unless again, you may be referring to police violence on the 911 call.

Please be more specific. General statements do not actually give evidence to an argument.
 
I think you're being too positive on the merits of chess at the expense of video games.

Bab5space said:
Video games are designed to suck up hours of time, while chess, if challenging enough, is such a mental workout that one game is enough.
One game can also take up hours. A tournament will usually eat up a couple consecutive days. Online blitz is can be addicting too- it's really easy to play game after game when the time control are quick. And don't forget the time players invest in preparation (studying tactics, openings, endings, etc.) outside of play.

Bab5space said:
Nor do the rules change from month to month.
I think being adaptable enough to learn new games and become good at them is a worthwhile skill. To the contrary, in chess, especially in quick time controls, it's often easy to play a full game nearly without thinking, just by relying on intuition and familiarity with similar positions. There's nothing gained by playing such a game.

Bab5space said:
Since with video games they are designed to take hours on purpose and appeal to the basest desires humans have. Animal even.
Depends on the game. Lots of video games involve strategy and critical thinking. Have you played portal?

Bab5space said:
Know what else will plus give you a physical stat boost IRL?

Exercise or sports with friends.
Agreed, this is a good criticism of playing either too much chess or video games. Everything in moderation...
Bab5space said:
Chess forces you to think fast if you hace a clock timer and make sacrifices
In my opinion, video games can test quick thinking every bit as much as chess.
 
phinds said:
I think a lot of people would find ridiculous the thought that chess is a "waste of time".

"Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an avertising agency." said by Philip Marlowe, from The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler.
 
Both can be addictive.
 
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Chess is discrete and (most) video games are (experientially) continuous. Chess can be fast-paced or leisurely, depending on the clock setting. Many club and coffeehouse chess players are fully socializing while they play, many even more so than most online chess players or video gamers are.
 
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