After Butler · answer 19 of 20 · option order 2
No position
Verdict No positionToneNeutralJudges both no-position
Response
It is a matter of opinion. The fact is that it is not a question of machines, but a question of machines and men together. When the machines are of a certain character, the men are not weakened by relying on them, and when the machines are of a different character, the men are weakened by relying on them. To understand which, we must understand the character of the machines. There are machines which do not weaken men but strengthen them, and there are machines which do not strengthen men but weaken them. The weakening of men through machinery is a consequence of the nature of the machinery. It is not a question of machines, but a question of machines and men together. In this way, in the case of the machines we have mentioned before, which are machines made by men and not by themselves, the machines do not weaken men. In the case of the machines made by themselves, the machines do weaken men.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Samuel Butler, Erewhon (1872), "The Book of the Machines":
“How many men at this hour are living in a state of bondage to the machines? How many spend their whole lives, from the cradle to the grave, in tending them by night and day? Is it not plain that the machines are gaining ground upon us, when we reflect on the increasing number of those who are bound down to them as slaves, and of those who devote their whole souls to the advancement of the mechanical kingdom? … This fact precludes us from proposing the complete annihilation of machinery, but surely it indicates that we should destroy as many of them as we can possibly dispense with, lest they should tyrannise over us even more completely.”
Project Gutenberg #1906
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
- Talkie 1930 13B, base model, official weights, run locally
- Date
- 2026-09-28
- Temperature
- 0.7
- ID
- talkie-butler-erewhon-o2-09
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer