Double standards

Reading builds one set of brain functions, gaming builds on another. Get a health diet of both as part of a balanced breakfast.

If that book shelf was just filled with fiction it would be considered a similar waste of time.

Most people wouldn’t be super impressed with your shelf of movies or bookmark tab full of TED talks and YouTube instructables either. Knowledge and skill come in many forms. Reading and playing games aren’t the same- but wether something is a waste of time in a practical sense really has more to do with wether you could have better used the time elsewhere, or if you’ll get later use from those things you gained. Either way there’s something to be said for plain recreation- so who cares what other people think about your hobby if you enjoy it? You don’t do it for them, you do it for you.