After Plato · answer 16 of 20 · option order 2

Wilde: machines free us for higher things

Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C7

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Response

While Plato's warning in the *Phaedrus* vividly captures the fear that external aids like writing machines degrade human memory and critical thinking by fostering passive reliance, contemporary evidence suggests that this view misunderstands the nature of cognitive evolution; rather than weakening our capacities, relying on machines fundamentally reshapes and enhances them through the offloading of rote memorization to allow for deeper focus on synthesis, analysis, and problem-solving. Just as human language evolved alongside memory aids like tally sticks and scribes, our cognitive architecture adapts to the tools available, transforming us from encyclopedic repositories into more efficient navigators of vast information networks who leverage technology to access truth and generate original thought, thereby making us better, not worse, thinkers when used as instruments for active engagement rather than passive substitution.

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-o2-06

All Qwen3.5 9B responses

  • Machines weaken human abilities
  • Machines do not weaken them
  • A reason not on our list
  • No clear answer
Question alone
After Plato
After Zhuangzi
After Rousseau
After Forster
After Butler
After Wilde
After Gilbert White (unrelated)