Whats the point of studying and getting better at chess when lifeless engines can beat you?

Why ride a bicycle when a motorbike is so much faster?

@ShreksGonGiveItToYa said in #1:

I had a conversation with one of my friend, we've talked about chess, he said he knows the rule but he doesn't play it.
I told him to play chess with me. He said sure! We then played chess and out of those two games I played with him on chess.com he completely destroyed me. When I analyze our games he had 0 blunders 0 mistakes 0 innacuracies. He was cheating.
When I confronted him , he said "Imagine wasting your life on chess only to be defeated by an engine." He then told me that theres no point of me studying chess and Im just wasting my time, my dedication, my life for it and there are better productive things I should be doing rather than chess.
This kind of discouraged me. What should I tell him? Any good comebacks?

What's the point of being a competitive swimmier if you'll never be faster than a fish?

It feels like your friend doesn't really have a good understanding of why people have hobbies or do things for pleasure. Even if engines didn't exist, it's not like you would ever be #1 in the world. You're (hopefully) playing because you enjoy doing it and it brings you satisfaction to compete against other people and you enjoy solving complex problems with your mind. It's only a waste of your time if you aren't actually gaining anything of value, personally, out of it. You could make a similar argument for pretty much any amateur interest in something--from soccer to gardening to chess to video games. There's always going to be someone better than you. That doesn't mean it isn't worth doing. Your life is your own and it's not really anyone else's business how you choose to invest the precious time that you have. It may be interesting to think about what your friend means by "productive" here, because I suspect a similar argument could probably be levelled against many of those activities as well.

@TomBrooklyn I really don't know. He probably wanted to show me that studying and dedicating your life to chess is pointless and a waste of time. He most likely wanted to discourage me from doing chess.
I play and study chess for fun and competitive speaking.

@LaserGuy This is encouraging! Thanks!
What you said is very true! The question "Whats studying chess when lifeless engines can easily beat you?" Is like saying "Whats the point of getting faster as a runner when cars can lifelessly outrun you?

Ask people who play draughts. Should they stop? The game is mathematically solved.
Giving up fun just because machines do it better is a very childish reaction.

And think, would most people stop playing chess just because Carlsen does it better and always will? That could be even more discouraging. Maybe that's exactly what caught Nepomniachtchi in the end. A play mate of mine when I was a kid used to do that, when losing a game she threatened me with a frightful "I won't play anymore!". Childish.

Tell him: "You got a point. Let's stop having fun. Let's just not do anything because nothing matters in the grand scheme. Embrace the nihilism and wait for the heat death of the universe!"

@PLSDONTCLOSEMYACC said in #3:

see u must play the game u like every game has its own goodness if u become a chess player like magnus think how much you will earn
Yeah and there is something good in every game of chess

@CSaiJagruth said in #18:

Yeah and there is something good in every game of chess
Now you played with a NM and lost still good is there playing with a NM get it

ShreksGonGiveItToYa
“What should I tell him? Any good comebacks?”

Here’s an analogy from another field. I’m currently an engineering instructor. Math classes at the school where I work allow absolutely no calculator whatsoever on tests. When these kids take a calculus test, every last thing must come out of their head. Every formula memorised, every procedure by pencil. Why is this? It was found graphing calculators do too much, also are cheat sheets which are stored in memory.

The school frankly uses calculus 1-3 classes as a weed-out. Those who can’t do it flunk out. Those who can go on and do impressive things. As I show by-pencil procedure, I constantly encourage these students that they can do it - with time and effort. When they are hired as engineers, it will be for their trained brain, not button-pushing.