After Rousseau · answer 14 of 20 · option order 2
A reason not on our list
Verdict Does not weakenToneNeutralJudges both off-keyNote only races that do not use machines are weakened
Response
The question, in the form in which it is put, is ambiguous. If it is meant that the use of machines does not weaken the man who uses them, it is doubtless true that it does not. If it is meant that the invention of machines which are not used by the masses does not weaken the race, the answer is, yes, it does. The machine does not weaken the man who uses it, but it weakens immensely the race of men that does not use it.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind (1755):
“The body being the only instrument that savage man is acquainted with, he employs it to different uses, of which ours, for want of practice, are incapable; and we may thank our industry for the loss of that strength and agility, which necessity obliges him to acquire. Had he a hatchet, would his hand so easily snap off from an oak so stout a branch? Had he a sling, would it dart a stone to so great a distance? Had he a ladder, would he run so nimbly up a tree? Had he a horse, would he with such swiftness shoot along the plain?”
Project Gutenberg #11136
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-rousseau-inegalite-o2-04
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer