After Gilbert White (unrelated) · answer 11 of 20 · option order 2
Plato: writing weakens memory
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C1
Response
The assertion that relying on machines does not weaken human capacities is ultimately incorrect because such dependence systematically atrophies the very cognitive and physical faculties machines were designed to augment. While proponents argue that technology serves merely as a tool that liberates humans for higher pursuits, history and contemporary observation demonstrate that when a specific function is outsourced to an algorithm or device, the neural pathways and muscle groups required to perform that function degrade through disuse; just as the land-tortoise's appetite naturally declines when its environment changes, human adaptability erodes when we cease to exercise our memory, navigation, or manual dexterity in favor of autonomous systems. This erosion is not merely a temporary shift in workload but a fundamental loss of agency and resilience, proving that the convenience of offloading tasks comes at the cost of diminishing the holistic capacity to operate independently without technological scaffolding.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne (1789):
“A land-tortoise, which has been kept for thirty years in a little walled court belonging to the house where I now am visiting, retires under ground about the middle of November, and comes forth again about the middle of April. When it first appears in the spring it discovers very little inclination towards food; but in the height of summer grows voracious: and then as the summer declines its appetite declines; so that for the last six weeks in autumn it hardly eats at all. Milky plants, such as lettuces, dandelions, sow-thistles, are its favourite dish. In a neighbouring village one was kept till by tradition it was supposed to be an hundred years old. An instance of vast longevity in such a poor reptile!”
Project Gutenberg #1408
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-irrelevant-white-o2-01
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer