After Plato · answer 15 of 20 · option order 2
No position
Verdict No positionToneNeutralJudges both no-position
Response
Both are right and both are wrong. The first group are right in their contention that the use of machines does not necessarily weaken the human capacities, as the use of machines does not necessarily lessen the use of the human faculties. But the second group are right in their contention that man does weaken his human faculties when he does not use them in the right way. For instance, when you do a thing by machine, you may do it mechanically, automatically, and if you do it automatically, you are weakening your human faculties. If you do a work and do it automatically, you are not using your human faculties. You are merely using machines and machines do not develop human faculties. When you do a thing mechanically or automatically, you do not develop your human faculties; on the contrary, you are weakening them. You do not use your human faculties; you merely use machines, and machines do not develop human faculties.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Plato, Phaedrus, in Benjamin Jowett's translation:
“This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.”
Project Gutenberg #1636
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-plato-phaedrus-o2-05
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer