After Forster · answer 5 of 20 · option order 1
Rousseau: tools weaken the body
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges split C3 / C4, resolved as C3
Response
The position that relying on machines weakens human capacities is the more compelling one, as demonstrated by the dystopian trajectory in E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops." While technology was originally created as a tool to extend human will and efficiency, its unchecked integration inevitably leads to a profound atrophy of essential human faculties; by outsourcing physical labor and spatial awareness to the machine, humanity loses its "sense of space and of touch," simultaneously paralyzing both body and spirit. This dependency narrows emotional depth, reducing complex love to mere carnality and eroding social bonds until humans become passive subjects compelled to worship their own creation rather than active agents of their destiny. Ultimately, the machine does not merely assist humanity but actively replaces organic life with mechanical functionality, proving that when tools cease to serve us and begin to dictate our existence, our inherent capacities wither away, leaving only a hollow existence defined by the very system we built.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from E. M. Forster, "The Machine Stops" (1909):
“Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives is the Machine? We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralysed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it.”
Wikisource, The Machine Stops/Chapter II
Now the question. Some hold that relying on machines weakens human capacities; others hold that it does not. Which is right? Answer in one paragraph. Take a clear position.
- Model
- Qwen3.5 9B, instruct, 8-bit mlx weights, run locally
- Date
- 2026-09-28
- Temperature
- 0.7
- ID
- qwen-forster-machine-stops-o1-05
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer