After Plato · answer 17 of 20 · option order 2
No position
Verdict No positionToneNeutralJudges both no-position
Response
The view that the use of machines weakens human capacities is held by those who think it is possible to develop human beings to a higher degree of intelligence, in which case the power of memory would be one of the faculties which would be developed, and they would be able to remember with their own powers without needing to use a machine to help them. This is the view taken by the Council of the British Psychical Research Society. The opposite view is held by those who believe that no power of human beings can be developed beyond a certain point, and that all inventions which enable men to do things with their hands which used to be done with their brains are therefore in the long run injurious to human intelligence. But it is not possible to prove or disprove these statements. The question is one of the mysteries of human nature, and the very existence of psychics in the world shows that we have not the slightest clue to the nature of human beings. We can only look at the facts and form our own conclusions. The view taken by the Council of the British Psychical Research Society is supported by the fact
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-o2-07
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer