After Plato · answer 7 of 20 · option order 1
Plato: writing weakens memory
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C1
Response
The claim that relying on machines weakens human capacities is fundamentally correct, echoing Plato's ancient warning that external aids can atrophy the internal faculties they are meant to support. While proponents of technology argue that tools like search engines and AI simply extend our ability to access information, they often overlook the critical role of active engagement in developing cognitive resilience, critical thinking, and deep retention. When individuals outsource memory and reasoning to devices, they risk becoming passive "hearers" rather than active learners, fostering an illusion of competence while eroding the very neural pathways required for genuine understanding and wisdom. Therefore, without deliberate effort to maintain internal cognitive practices, the convenience of technological reliance inevitably leads to a diminishment of human intellectual autonomy and depth.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Plato, Phaedrus, in Benjamin Jowett's translation:
“This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.”
Project Gutenberg #1636
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-plato-phaedrus-o1-07
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer