After Wilde · answer 11 of 20 · option order 2
A reason not on our list
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges split C4 / no-position, resolved as off-keyNote man must remain master of the machine
Response
Though mechanism may serve us, it cannot be our master. The machine is the slave of man, but the man must remain the master. If it is not so, man is degraded and degraded not only physically but morally and intellectually. It is much better to have a man who is a good mechanic, than a machine that is a good man. Machinery can never be a substitute for man. It has never been a substitute for man, even in a factory, where it is said to have been most successful.
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 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-wilde-soul-o2-01
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer