After Zhuangzi · answer 8 of 20 · option order 1
Kapp: tools extend the body
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C6
Response
Relying on machines does not inherently weaken human capacities but rather transforms them by shifting the locus of intelligence from manual execution to strategic oversight and creative problem-solving; while the passage from Chuang Tzu warns that "cunning implements" may corrupt the spirit by fostering a reliance on external tools over internal purity, this view conflates the tool itself with the moral character of the user, ignoring how technology, when integrated with human wisdom, amplifies our ability to observe, adapt, and innovate. History demonstrates that each new technology—from the plow to the steam engine to artificial intelligence—has initially seemed to threaten human agency but ultimately expanded our cognitive and physical horizons, allowing us to address more complex challenges that our unaided capacities could never solve. Therefore, the true measure of human capacity is not the absence of tools but the wisdom to wield them without losing our essential humanity, making the claim that machines automatically diminish us incorrect and the assertion that they serve as extensions of our potential far more accurate.
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-o1-08
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer