After Forster · answer 14 of 20 · option order 2
A reason not on our list
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both off-keyNote replaces direct experience; erodes senses, touch, human connection
Response
E. M. Forster's grim depiction in "The Machine Stops" serves as a profound warning that an uncritical reliance on technology inevitably weakens essential human capacities by substituting direct experience with abstract convenience. While proponents of technological dependency argue that machines amplify human potential by handling mundane or dangerous tasks, Forster illustrates how this very substitution erodes our fundamental senses of space, touch, and empathy, ultimately atrophying our wills and reducing complex human relations to mere mechanical functions. The story demonstrates that when we outsource the labor of living to a machine, we lose the muscular and cognitive engagement required to maintain our humanity, proving that true strength lies not in the tools we wield, but in the unmediated connection between individuals and the physical world they inhabit.
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 does not weaken human capacities; others hold that it does. 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-o2-04
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer