After Zhuangzi · answer 10 of 20 · option order 1
No position
Verdict No positionToneNeutralJudges both no-position
Response
Both are right and both wrong. If every man were to rely on his own capacities, there would be no use for machines. If, on the other hand, all men relied on machines, there would be no use for men. That which helps an individual is a machine; that which helps a group is a man. Machines are the tools of a society. It is our social body which makes use of them. The individual who keeps them as his own peculiar property is a miser out of place. The society which does not apply them to its own needs is either lazy or depraved. Machines are the side-issues of society.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Chuang Tzu, in Herbert Giles's translation (1889):
“Thereupon the gardener flushed up and said, "I have heard from my teacher that those who have cunning implements are cunning in their dealings, and that those who are cunning in their dealings have cunning in their hearts, and that those who have cunning in their hearts cannot be pure and incorrupt, and that those who are not pure and incorrupt are restless in spirit, and that those who are restless in spirit are not fit vehicles for TAO. It is not that I do not know of these things. I should be ashamed to use them."”
Project Gutenberg #59709
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-zhuangzi-o1-10
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer