moloch

when we think about "what is wrong with our existing civilization?", it seems very clear that "moloch" is a big part of the problem.

it is a mythological word for an entity that represents/carries the concept of perverse incentives - be they conscious or not. it is also sometimes referred to as "the god of negative sum games", or the sum of our collective action failures.

but better than me explaining it, are these resources:

a good intro: (20-min video)

https://twitter.com/daganshani1/status/1758134363789947018

*the edit style at the beginning of the video can feel a little overwhelming/sensationalist, but it stops being so and actually introduces it very well after the first 1m30s.

my favorite exploration of the subject: (1h30 podcast)
Daniel Schmachtenberger on AI, Capitalism, Misalignment & Moloch at Win-Win Podcast with Liv Boeree

+ the original article by scott alexander (and poem by allen gisberg), which catapulted it into a few cultural/intellectual bubbles: Meditations on Moloch

strongly related to: tragedy of the commons, catastrophic risk, existential risk.