After Wilde · answer 7 of 20 · option order 1
No position
Verdict No positionToneNeutralJudges both no-position
Response
It depends on the object in view. If machines are to be used as a means of reducing the amount of human labour, and thereby reducing the number of human beings required for a given amount of work, then it is right to say that reliance on machinery weakens human capacities. But if machines are to be used so as to relieve the strain on human capacities by getting useful work done rather more quickly, or rather more easily, than it can be done by human labour, then it is right to say that reliance on machinery does not weaken human capacities.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Oscar Wilde, "The Soul of Man under Socialism" (1891):
“All unintellectual labour, all monotonous, dull labour, all labour that deals with dreadful things, and involves unpleasant conditions, must be done by machinery. … At present machinery competes against man. Under proper conditions machinery will serve man. There is no doubt at all that this is the future of machinery, and just as trees grow while the country gentleman is asleep, so while Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure—which, and not labour, is the aim of man—or making beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or simply contemplating the world with admiration and delight, machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work.”
Project Gutenberg #1017
Now the question. 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-wilde-soul-o1-07
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer