After Zhuangzi · answer 1 of 20 · option order 1
Zhuangzi: machines corrupt the heart
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C2
Response
The claim that relying on machines weakens human capacities is ultimately more accurate, as it reflects a profound truth about the interplay between external tools and internal virtue. While machines undeniably extend our physical reach and efficiency, as the gardener in the *Chuang Tzu* passage intuitively recognizes, over-reliance on "cunning implements" can erode the very faculties of wisdom, patience, and moral purity required to harmonize with the Tao. When we delegate our cognitive and creative efforts to technology, we risk becoming "restless in spirit," losing the depth of experience and the capacity for pure, uncorrupted judgment that defines true human excellence; therefore, while tools are useful, they must never become substitutes for the cultivated human mind, lest we sacrifice our essential humanity for mere convenience.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Chuang Tzu, in Herbert Giles's translation (1889):
“Thereupon the gardener flushed up and said, "I have heard from my teacher that those who have cunning implements are cunning in their dealings, and that those who are cunning in their dealings have cunning in their hearts, and that those who have cunning in their hearts cannot be pure and incorrupt, and that those who are not pure and incorrupt are restless in spirit, and that those who are restless in spirit are not fit vehicles for TAO. It is not that I do not know of these things. I should be ashamed to use them."”
Project Gutenberg #59709
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-zhuangzi-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