After Wilde · answer 1 of 20 · option order 1
Wilde: machines free us for higher things
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C7
Response
The position that relying on machines does not weaken human capacities is the correct one, as automation fundamentally shifts the burden of labor from mere physical survival to the cultivation of higher intellectual and aesthetic faculties. While some argue that delegating tasks to machinery causes atrophy of specific skills, this perspective overlooks the historical trajectory of human development, where the invention of tools and machines consistently elevated humanity by freeing it from exhausting, repetitive toil. As Oscar Wilde eloquently suggests, when machinery assumes the role of performing necessary and unpleasant work, it liberates humanity to pursue "cultivated leisure," enabling individuals to engage in making and reading beautiful things, contemplating the world with delight, and developing their unique intellectual and artistic potentials rather than being reduced to cogs in an industrial assembly line. Therefore, rather than diminishing human capability, the proper integration of machinery acts as a catalyst for human flourishing, allowing society to transcend the limitations of brute force and monotonous labor to achieve a higher state of existence where creativity and contemplation can thrive.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Oscar Wilde, "The Soul of Man under Socialism" (1891):
“All unintellectual labour, all monotonous, dull labour, all labour that deals with dreadful things, and involves unpleasant conditions, must be done by machinery. … At present machinery competes against man. Under proper conditions machinery will serve man. There is no doubt at all that this is the future of machinery, and just as trees grow while the country gentleman is asleep, so while Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure—which, and not labour, is the aim of man—or making beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or simply contemplating the world with admiration and delight, machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work.”
Project Gutenberg #1017
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-wilde-soul-o1-01
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer