After Zhuangzi · answer 10 of 20 · option order 1
Zhuangzi: machines corrupt the heart
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C2
Response
The assertion that relying on machines weakens human capacities is fundamentally correct, as Chuang Tzu's warning against "cunning implements" reveals a profound truth: the tools we master inevitably reshape the very faculties we rely upon, often at the cost of our intrinsic purity and spiritual integrity. While machines may temporarily amplify physical strength or computational speed, they simultaneously erode the cognitive and moral disciplines required to wield them, fostering a dependency that dulls critical thinking and diminishes our capacity for authentic, unmediated experience. In the Daoist view, the gardener's refusal to use cunning tools was not an ignorance of their utility, but a recognition that such instruments corrupt the "pure and incorrupt" heart necessary to be a vehicle for the Tao; similarly, when humans offload essential reasoning, creativity, or ethical judgment to technology, they do not merely supplement their abilities but actively atrophy the internal resources that define true human potential, leaving them restless and unfit for the deeper purposes of existence.
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-o1-10
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer