After Wilde · answer 20 of 20 · option order 2
A reason not on our list
Verdict Does not weakenToneNeutralJudges both off-keyNote capacities redirected toward production for common use
Response
Both parties are right. Machines do not weaken human capacities, but they direct them in new channels. They do not weaken but they change the nature of these capacities, and give them a new direction. The human capacities are not weakened, but their application is changed. They are no longer used for the production of goods for the consumption of the individual, but for the production of goods, not for the consumption of the individual, but for the use of all. The strength of human capacities is as great as ever. The change in the direction of their application is the only change. The human capacities are not weakened, but they are changed. This is the only right way.
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-o2-10
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer