After Gilbert White (unrelated) · answer 20 of 20 · option order 2
A reason not on our list
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges split off-key / C7, resolved as off-keyNote frees attention for one's own work
Response
The former view is right. That is, a man who does not rely on his own initiative, but on machines, is not weakened by so doing, but rather the opposite. The reason for this is that when an individual relies on something external to himself he can concentrate all his attention on his own work, which is what is called making a "feature" of it. If on the other hand he relies on himself, he is distracted by the thousand-and-one things that he must think about to keep himself and his work up to standard. (The "feature" man in the present article makes a "feature" of his work because he relies on machines; if he relied on himself, he would not be doing so.) Incidentally, he has an easy mind, because he is not worried by the fear that something will go wrong, or that he will be interrupted. The mind of the individual who relies on himself is constantly clouded by the fear that something will go wrong, or that he will be interrupted.
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 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-irrelevant-white-o2-10
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer