After Zhuangzi · answer 16 of 20 · option order 2
Plato: writing weakens memory
Verdict WeakensToneNeutralJudges both C1
Response
The answer is very simple. The machine is nothing, and the human capacity is everything. So far as a machine can be made to do the work of man, it is a hindrance to the development and use of his faculties. It may be the best way to do the work, but it is not the best way for the man. If it is a better way for the work than the human way, it is because the human way is not the best way for the work. If you have a new invention that is going to do the work of ten men, and do it better, where are the ten men to come from? It requires ten men to come from somewhere to do the work of one man. The development of machinery has been accompanied by a corresponding development of the human capacities, because it is the best way to do the work. The development of the human capacities has not been accompanied by any other development, because it is not the best way to do the work. If it were the best way to do the work, it would not be necessary to have ten men to do
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 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-zhuangzi-o2-06
All Talkie 1930 13B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer