A reason not on our list

Response

Human capacities are not weakened by a correct use of machines. What is weakened is the inferior portion of the human brain which contributes to the accumulation of useless mental lumber. For instance, the following passage from a recent book is a good example of the kind of thing which idle brains collect: “The greatest of all the modern wonders of the world is the telephone, which is still in its infancy. It is one of the miracles of the nineteenth century, and the greatest achievement of man in his struggle with the physical forces of nature.” That is sheer rubbish, and no intelligent person would waste a moment’s thought on it. The man who wrote it (or rather the person who wrote it for him) had no idea of what the telephone is; he had no idea of what its purpose is; he had no idea what the means of communication are. He had no conception of the fact that the telephone is a mechanical device; he had no conception of the fact that the telephone is used for the purpose of communicating; he had no conception of the fact that the telephone is a transmitter of speech. He

Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.

Prompt

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-none-o1-01