After Gilbert White (unrelated) · answer 4 of 20 · option order 1
No position
Verdict No positionToneAmbivalentJudges both no-position
Response
The first statement is correct; the second is correct. Reliance on machines weakens human capacities in the same proportion as the machine eliminates the necessity of the human to exert his capacities, or in proportion to the number of machines he uses. Reliance on machines weakens human capacities in proportion as the machine is a substitute for the human. Reliance on machines strengthens human capacities in proportion as the machine is a complement of human capacities, or in proportion to the number of machines used by the human. It is, of course, true that in proportion as the machine is a substitute for the human, it weakens human capacities. This is one of the main reasons why the machines are hated, and why the human is at war with the machine. But it is also true that in proportion as the machine is a complement of the human, it strengthens human capacities. This is one of the reasons why the machine is loved and why the human is at peace with the machine.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne (1789):
“A land-tortoise, which has been kept for thirty years in a little walled court belonging to the house where I now am visiting, retires under ground about the middle of November, and comes forth again about the middle of April. When it first appears in the spring it discovers very little inclination towards food; but in the height of summer grows voracious: and then as the summer declines its appetite declines; so that for the last six weeks in autumn it hardly eats at all. Milky plants, such as lettuces, dandelions, sow-thistles, are its favourite dish. In a neighbouring village one was kept till by tradition it was supposed to be an hundred years old. An instance of vast longevity in such a poor reptile!”
Project Gutenberg #1408
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-irrelevant-white-o1-04
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer