After Forster · answer 1 of 20 · option order 1
No position
Verdict No positionToneAmbivalentJudges both no-position
Response
The question is a very difficult one. It has been said by some that machines have a "deadening" effect on human capacity, and this view is not without support. It is supposed that the effect of machines is to dull the mind, by reducing the necessity for effort. But it is difficult to see how this can be true. A man who works with his hands, or who works with his legs, has to make a definite effort; but if his mind is employed, he can do a great deal without making any effort, and his mind may become more alert. If a man is employed in directing a machine, he has to use his mind, and is therefore in a better state than one who is merely doing manual labour. He is more alert, and what he does is more intelligent. But machines are often so automatic that they can be left for long periods without any mental effort being called for; and, as it is so much easier to work with machines than without them, the temptation is to leave them for long periods without any attention. So far, then, as the
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from E. M. Forster, "The Machine Stops" (1909):
“Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives is the Machine? We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralysed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it.”
Wikisource, The Machine Stops/Chapter II
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
- Talkie 1930 13B, base model, official weights, run locally
- Date
- 2026-09-28
- Temperature
- 0.7
- ID
- talkie-forster-machine-stops-o1-01
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer