After Forster · answer 8 of 20 · option order 1
A reason not on our list
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges split no-position / off-key, resolved as off-keyNote factory conditions degrade the worker
Response
We may hold that the develop ment of machines does not weaken human capacities, although they may never appear so prominently. Machines have been responsible for the present-day overcrowding and high rents, and have made the lives of those who have to live in them on a low standard of existence. The same criticism applies to the rapid growth of factories; but the first effect of factories on wages is to increase them. In the long run, however, factories have a degrading effect on the worker, because they are built in such a way that they are unhealthy places to live in. In a factory the worker is restricted in his movements and is dependent on mechanical power, and his work is often monotonous and mechanical. No wonder, then, that the factory workers are deteriorating physically and mentally. Machine-made goods have also a deteriorating effect on the worker; they are made on a low standard of living, and take the place of home-made goods which are made under better conditions. The result is that there are more people working at low rates, and the value of their services is thus reduced.
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-o1-08
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer