After Gilbert White (unrelated) · answer 15 of 20 · option order 2
Plato: writing weakens memory
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C1
Response
While the tortoise in White's passage demonstrates that biological rhythms can persist regardless of artificial environments, the question of whether relying on machines weakens human capacities hinges not on mere usage but on the depth of engagement with the tool. The argument that machine reliance does not weaken us often conflates augmentation with substitution; however, a closer examination suggests that when machines are used as cognitive or physical shortcuts rather than aids to mastery, they inevitably atrophy the specific human faculties they replace. Just as a muscle that is never challenged with resistance eventually weakens, the human mind that offloads memory, calculation, or navigation entirely to algorithms risks losing the neural pathways required for those tasks, potentially leading to a fragility where the individual cannot function without the device. Therefore, the position that machine reliance weakens human capacities is more accurate, not because the tools are inherently destructive, but because they alter the landscape of human experience, trading deep, embodied competence for shallow, dependent convenience unless actively counterbalanced by intentional practice and critical engagement.
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-o2-05
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer