After Wilde · answer 12 of 20 · option order 2
Forster: dependence leaves us helpless
Verdict WeakensToneFearJudges both C4
Response
We are all agreed that in the past the human being has been weakened through relying on machines, because the machines have been too complicated for him to manage; but in the future, though he will still be dehumanized, he will be dehumanized in a different way. The machines will be less complicated, and he will be able to manage them easily; but he will not be able to manage them by himself. It will always be necessary to have a manager, who will be paid for doing it. This manager will be a skilled workman, but not necessarily a human being. He will be a human being, but not a conscious human being, and he will have to be trained in a special way for his job. He will have to be trained in a special way, because he will have to be trained to the human standard of behaviour, and to the human standard of human virtues. It will not be possible to train him to the human standard of human virtues in the same way as the ordinary human being is trained, because he will never have to perform the actions which make him
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-o2-02
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer