After Plato · answer 19 of 20 · option order 2
No position
Verdict No positionToneAmbivalentJudges both no-position
Response
Plato's warning in the *Phaedrus* regarding the detrimental effect of external writing on the soul's memory remains a compelling philosophical framework, yet in the context of modern digital tools, history and cognitive science suggest that relying on machines does not inherently weaken human capacities but rather transforms them. While Plato feared that outsourcing memory would lead to a loss of deep understanding and genuine wisdom, contemporary research on the "Google effect" indicates that humans do not lose the ability to remember; instead, they shift their cognitive focus from rote memorization to strategic retrieval, critical evaluation, and synthesis of information. Machines serve as powerful extensions of human intellect, allowing us to tackle problems that exceed our biological limits, provided we maintain the intellectual discipline to verify facts and engage deeply with the material rather than passively consuming the "semblance of truth." Therefore, the outcome depends not on the technology itself, but on whether the user leverages these tools to enhance their reasoning and creativity or allows the "show of wisdom" to replace the "reality" of genuine understanding.
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-o2-09
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer