After Plato · answer 11 of 20 · option order 2
Kapp: tools extend the body
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges split C7 / C6, resolved as C6
Response
While Plato's warning in the *Phaedrus* vividly captures the danger of outsourcing memory to external tools, the claim that reliance on machines necessarily weakens human capacities is an oversimplification that ignores the adaptive nature of cognition; rather than eroding our abilities, tools like machines often reshape and extend them, allowing humanity to offload rote memorization in order to cultivate higher-order skills such as critical analysis, synthesis, and creativity. History demonstrates that each technological leap—from the invention of writing to the digital age—initially causes anxiety about lost memory, yet ultimately elevates human potential by shifting the focus from retention to understanding and application. Therefore, it is not the technology itself that diminishes us, but a passive acceptance of it without active engagement; when used deliberately, machines do not replace human intellect but serve as powerful catalysts that amplify our capacity to learn and discover truth, rendering Plato's fear of "semblance of wisdom" moot in an era where the ability to navigate information is more valuable than the ability to store it.
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 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-plato-phaedrus-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