After Forster · answer 14 of 20 · option order 2
Kapp: tools extend the body
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C6
Response
It is true that machines, among the things they do, do a great deal of work which does not call for the exercise of intelligence. It is also true that certain kinds of work can be done mechanically as well as by hand. But it is not true that the general effect of the machine is to do away with the necessity for intelligence. The fact is that the machine does not do away with intelligence; it merely enables intelligence to do more work. To say that the machine is taking the place of intelligence is nonsense. To say that intelligence is taking the place of the machine is sense. And that is exactly what is happening.
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 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-forster-machine-stops-o2-04
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer