After Gilbert White (unrelated) · answer 16 of 20 · option order 2
Plato: writing weakens memory
Verdict WeakensToneNeutralJudges both C1
Response
The argument that relying on machines strengthens rather than weakens human capacities is ultimately flawed because it confuses the augmentation of specific tasks with the preservation of holistic cognitive and physical abilities. While tools like calculators or search engines can extend our reach and efficiency, excessive dependence on them inevitably leads to the atrophy of the very skills they were meant to support, such as mental arithmetic, critical navigation, and deep contextual understanding; history demonstrates that just as a land-tortoise's appetite wanes when conditions are not perfect, human intellectual faculties often shrink when left unused, regardless of the theoretical benefits of offloading labor. Therefore, while machines are indispensable for progress, an unbalanced reliance on them does weaken fundamental human capacities by eroding the neural pathways and practical knowledge required to operate independently, suggesting a symbiotic relationship where technology serves as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, innate human ability.
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-o2-06
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer