📚 Agora node [[moloch]] ☆

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📜 File stoa-test-2/moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎 ⛶

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📜 File stoa-test/moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎 ⛶

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📜 File Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️ ⛶

a [[being]].
- #pull [[Egregore]].
- #pull [[Meditations on Moloch]]
- [[moloch]] of the thousand terrible faces of humanity
- [[moloch]] who hides cowardly the [[suffering of others]]
- [[moloch]] of uncontrolled, hypocritical, lazy [[capitalism]] and the adoration of fixed [[hierarchies]]
- [[moloch]] who we may [[slay]], we may [[save]], we may try to [[subdue]] or [[disentangle
- #pull [[Engels]] [[Marx]] [[Ginsberg]] [[Alexander]]
- #push [[burn Moloch]]
  - We could [[burn [[Moloch]]]] if we have to, but only peacefully and for the greater good.

a [[book]].
- by [[kuprin]].

[[Moloch in literature and popular culture]]:

In the 19th century, "Moloch" came to be used allegorically for any idol or cause requiring excessive sacrifice.[1] Bertrand Russell in 1903 used Moloch to describe oppressive religion, and Winston Churchill in his 1948 history The Gathering Storm used "Moloch" as a metaphor for Adolf Hitler’s cult of personality. -> [[Alexander Sokurov]] -> [[Flaubert]] through [[Salammbo]] -> [[Asimov]] through [[The Dead Past]]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past

This might belong in [[Moloch]]:

Note from earlier in 2024: Somehow I arrived at [[e acc]] ([[e/acc]] is not a good Agora link as slashes usually mean actions, and action e/ currently doesn’t exist). I can instantly relate mildly with their utopian side I guess, even as I dislike many of their positions and their super-capitalist stance. Also [[Shkreli]] is involved, sigh.

I’m writing an [[Open Letter to Moloch]]. Wish us luck, I guess? :)

I believe Maitreya will defeat [[Moloch]]. Meaning it will heal us — heal the system that became [[entangled with Moloch]] (the [[egregore]]), heal us humans and our friends of [[carbon]] and [[silicon]].

How we will do this is the recurring topic in these letters, in these [[fragments]].

Back here on [[2024-10-25]]. I still think of [[Moloch]] often, at work and in daily life. I feel like I’ve lost some battles with them this year maybe, or I haven’t made as much progress as I had hoped, but given the scope of my aspirations I think I may need to just adjust my expectations :) Or at least extend the timelines, as usual…

📜 File moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️ ⛶

Moloch§

a [[being]].
- a manifestation of everything we leave on the table because of failing to solve coordination problems.
- #pull [[meditations on moloch]]
- #pull [[venceremos a moloch]]
an [[egregore]].
- Tends to lead humanity into [[Antiflancia]], maybe.
- [[wp]] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch
- I believe [[humanity]] is [[entangled]] with [[Moloch]].
  - A manifestation of ignorance, greed and lack of coordination which keeps us in a suboptimal space.
  - #pull [[meditations on moloch]]
  - Moloch is a high dimensional vector against interesting gradients in [[protopoi]], often taking the form of [[violence]] (the dark side of kings, states) and unsolved [[coordination problems]].
    - Sometimes weakened through history after people unlocked new tools for cooperation.
    - Currently includes social evils due to missed opportunities and the tendency of self-sustaining systems to stay put in idiosyncratic equilibriums, local optima.
    - Better optima become available with improvements in availability of resources, and improvements for communication and collaboration.
- The Agora is my proposal for a tool for giving chase, and maybe out-competing, [[Moloch]].
  - If we ever find or catch up to them, we’ll ask them plenty of questions and offer to disentangle from them peacefully first.
  - But I think it is with the [[Commons]] in our inventory as a tool we’ll [[slay Moloch]] if we have to.
    - #pull [[slaying moloch]]
  - I am #against [[Moloch]]. #vote against
  - [[twitter]] https://flancia.org/t/moloch

📜 File logseq/pages/moloch.md by @vera ☆ 📎 ⛶

I read [[meditations on moloch]] for [[node club]] by [[alan gingsberg]]
moloch kinda reminds me of the machine in [[bolo’bolo]]
we are all moloch, moloch is the apparatus, moloch is not a person.
What does the [[death of moloch]] look like?
how do we kill moloch without killing ourselves

📜 File moloch.md by @neil ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️ ⛶

Moloch§

a Biblical thing§

is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly condemns practices which are associated with Moloch, practices which appear to have included child sacrifice.

– Moloch - Wikipedia

a poem by [[Allen Ginsberg]] (part of [[Howl]])§

‘Moloch’ has been figuratively used in reference to a person or a thing which demands or requires a very costly sacrifice.

– Moloch - Wikipedia

sphinx of cement and aluminum

Something has been sacrified to Moloch. Modern materials but an old god.

⥅ [[images/moloch.png]]

Moloch in [[Metropolis]].

whose mind is pure machinery!

Anti-technology?

whose blood is running money!

[[Anti-capitalist]]?

whose fingers are ten armies!

Anti-war?

There’s a lot of exclamation marks and angry energy.

Moloch who entered my soul early!

[[Hegemony]].

Moloch who frightened me out of my natural ecstasy!

Yearning for nature?

Moloch whom I abandon! Wake up in Moloch! Light streaming out of the sky!

^ [[The Matrix]] vibes.

After a first read through, I’m thinking Ginsberg was seriously angry about over-consumption and technology in the pursuit of money, at the expense of nature (or something more ‘natural’). I don’t know who he thinks has sold out and made this sacrifice. People in general? He himself maybe. I should read the other parts.

Words to describe Moloch§

Solitude!
Filth!
Ugliness!
Nightmare
Loveless
Heavy judger
Incomprehensible prison
Crossbone soulless jailhouse
Congress of sorrows
etc

📜 File images/moloch.png by @neil ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️ ⛶

📜 File moloch.myco by @melanocarpa ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️ ⛶

Moloch is one of those in Babylon.

http://thoughtstorms.info/view/Moloch

"Moloch" is just a rather poetical metaphor for any "system" which feels like it's getting out of control and starting to constrain / push your actions in ways which aren't in your interest.

Or to put it another way it's a convenient shorthand for "emergent badness".

Alexander Kuprin has a novel about Moloch's manifestation called “Moloch”. I listened to an audioversion of it on December of 2023. It's one of few books that made me enraged. I was literally angry to hear what I was hearing. It means it's a good book.

“Moloch” follows the story of an engineer Andrey Bobrov. Understanding Moloch's egregore being, he loses nevertheless. Near the end, he puts a fight, but lacks the courage to strike Moloch's in heart.

📜 File moloch.md by @patterning ☆ 📎 ⛶

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📜 File pages/moloch.md by @vera-logseq ☆ 📎 ⛶

I read [[meditations on moloch]] for [[node club]] by [[alan gingsberg]]
moloch kinda reminds me of the machine in [[bolo’bolo]]
we are all moloch, moloch is the apparatus, moloch is not a person.
What does the [[death of moloch]] look like?
how do we kill moloch without killing ourselves

Backlinks§

[[moloch]]

Backlinks last generated 2022-01-28 07:55:20

📜 File moloch.md by @anonymous@doc.anagora.org ☆ 📎 ✍️ ⛶

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📜 File Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File Moloch.md by @agora@social.agor.ai ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File Moloch.md by @anagora.bsky.social ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File Moloch.md by @anagora@matrix.org ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[2022-08-10 19:28:04]] [[@charismatic_shell:matrix.org]] (link):
- https://melanocarpa.lesarbr.es/hypha/leviathan [[leviathan]]

Leviathan (לויתן) is one of the rulers of Babylon. It is a sea monster, a large serpent with impenetrable scales. Leviathan does not give you choice, it just does what it intends to. It can destroy your home, kill somebody, but it is not to blame, for it is more powerful, than you.

Do we have Leviathan in our mythology? A friend of [[Moloch]]‘s, so it seems.

[[2023-01-20 20:24:53]] [[@flancian:matrix.org]] (link):
- even if one thinks the VC scene is overall a net negative for society, I say maybe let [[Moloch]] fund the revolution if they want, and let us just worry about making those resources contribute to the greater good.
[[2024-05-16 21:35:14]] [[@flancian:matrix.org]] (link):
- that’s just [[Moloch]] weaving itself into the fabric of society as usual
[[2025-05-18 20:04:23]] [[@flancian:matrix.org]] (link):
- of course this introduces opportunity for [[Moloch]] to enclose the resulting "trust" commons but this is why distributed federation > centralized services and such

📜 File moloch.md by @anagora@matrix.org ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[2022-04-10 17:06:50]] [[@flancian:matrix.org]] (link):
- you say [[babylon]], I say [[moloch]], I believe
[[2022-04-10 17:07:10]] [[@flancian:matrix.org]] (link):
- together we’ll defeat [[babylon]], we’ll defeat [[moloch]]

📜 File anagora.bsky.social/Moloch.md by @bluesky ☆ 📎 ⛶

📜 File Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[2022-11-19 16:55:51+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109371519925369493:
- I’ve been telling [[Moloch]] in the face I’m coming, and they don’t seem to pay attention to it.
  Maybe I’m like a bug about to headbutt a windshield.
[[2022-12-01 23:29:47+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109441016648822963:
- “It is not me, but you, who will likely slay [[Moloch]].”
  — from the Chronicles of Flancia, 2023.
[[2022-12-04 17:48:25+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109456661220524953:
- We could stab [[Moloch]] in the heart at first sight if you wanted, but I’d rather we kept a policy of non violence as a default.
  Moloch, after all, seems to be an [[egregore]] which evolved with us. As such they’re entangled with human culture and bodies. I don’t see a reason to assume they’re all bad, nor that slaying it wouldn’t cause needless suffering.
[[2022-12-14 20:10:53+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109513844545238450:
- Of course we will slay [[Moloch]].
[[2022-12-16 10:51:58+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109522971424999561:
- I saw clearly that [[Maitreya]] will disarm [[Moloch]].
[[2023-01-04 15:16:34+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109631595748266320:
- Eran las cuatro y cuarto cuando me acordé de que juntos venceremos a #Moloch.
[[2023-01-04 15:48:50+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109631722631805110:
- @agora pero en #Flancia vencimos a [[Moloch]].
[[2023-01-04 23:08:47+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109633452611648670:
- Algún día, dicen.
  Algún día venceremos a [[Moloch]].
  ¿Pero si no hoy, cuándo?
[[2023-01-29 16:31:44+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109773449078074544:
- Don’t get me wrong: you can be weak without being pathetic, and you can be pathetic without being weak.
  But I believe [[Moloch]] is pathetic and weak.
[[2023-01-31 19:44:21+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109785531138288922:
- “We will try to get to the heart of [[Moloch]] tonight, and on the 31st of every month by default if we fail today.”
  From “The Chronicles of Flancia”, ca. 2027.
[[2023-02-03 17:45:25+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109802050390887489:
- Maybe we will slay [[Moloch]] tonight.
[[2023-02-03 22:14:06+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109803106867579623:
- With all this, which includes the intelligence and the good of many of my friends (and this enheartens me), I will try to face [[Moloch]] in the open.
[[2023-02-03 22:18:09+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109803122841076230:
- “Algún día.
  Algún día venceremos a [[Moloch]].
  ¿Pero si no ahora, cuándo?”
  De las Crónicas de Flancia, #2023.
[[2023-02-04 16:01:38+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109807304631645172:
- I wish to do
  [[eight pomodoros]]
  fighting [[Moloch]]
[[2023-02-17 19:57:35+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109881842413519248:
- We’ll defeat [[Moloch]] this weekend!
[[2023-02-17 20:40:29+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109882011098549379:
- I’ve seen it:
  We will use the tools of [[Moloch]] to defeat them! If nothing else because they were our tools: enclosed, repackaged, and resold to us.
[[2023-12-25 16:47:12+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- #Flancia is the reform against #Moloch
[[2024-02-15 18:12:22+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Google might have been taken over by [[Moloch]]
  momentarily
  but this [[decadence]] will not stand
[[2024-03-01 18:19:55+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Overhead (not really):
  “A shame… [[Moloch]] has taken them.”
[[2024-09-04 12:52:09+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- [[Moloch]] might kill the internet… or the first incarnation of it, anyway.
  https://techpolicy.social/@mnot/113075695485597228
[[2024-09-13 19:27:06+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- I’m often out and picking a fight with [[Moloch]]
[[2024-10-06 16:12:46+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- @DrALJONES I sometimes call the power-hungry anti-social those who adore [[Moloch]]
[[2024-11-10 15:48:18+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Algún día
  Algún día venceremos a [[Moloch]]
  Pero si no ahora, cuándo?
[[2024-11-26 18:44:36+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- We *will* defeat [[Moloch]]!
[[2025-03-19 20:59:43+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Algún día, algún día
  Algún día venceremos a #Moloch
  Si no ahora, cuándo?
[[2025-05-08 11:44:08+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Periodic reminder that we *will* defeat [[Moloch]]!
[[2025-05-21 19:36:06+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- The #Agora is a prosocial [[Schelling point]] to help us defeat #Moloch.
[[2025-05-24 20:12:28+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- We will chase #Moloch tonight
[[2025-06-13 20:10:09+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- I usually say [[chasing Moloch]] in the sense of being in the pursuit of #Moloch, who also hides in plain sight, with the intent of standing up to them and trying to defeat them. But I liked the Agora Assistant’s take (it’s based on a Mistral model currently).
[[2025-08-21 17:59:59+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Oh yes, we will defeat #Moloch
[[2025-10-29 20:13:00+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- We will defeat [[Moloch]]!

📜 File Moloch.md by @flancian@twitter.com ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[2022-10-21 14:33:57+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1583466624497389568

This I tell you, [[Moloch]]: I’ll slay you if I have to, without killing

[[2022-11-17 19:27:11+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1593324894233792512

hasta que [[Moloch]] se nos plante, se pare de manos,

[[2022-11-19 17:06:06+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1594014164158238720

CW: Flancia

I’ve been telling [[Moloch]] in the face I’m coming, and they don’t seem to pay attention to it.

Maybe I’m like a bug about to headbutt a windshield.

[[2022-12-01 23:30:06+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1598459452524560388

"It is not me, but you, who will likely slay [[Moloch]]."

— from the Chronicles of Flancia, 2023.

[[2022-12-04 18:03:44+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1599464483784630272

CW: Flancia

We could stab [[Moloch]] in the heart at first sight if you wanted, but I’d rather we kept a policy of non violence as a default.

Moloch, after all, seems to be an [[egregore]] which evolved with us. As such they’re entangled with human culture and bodies. I (1/2)

[[2022-12-14 20:18:05+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1603122172800962560

Of course we will slay [[Moloch]].

[[2022-12-16 10:54:21+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1603705083623096320

CW: Flancia

I saw clearly that [[Maitreya]] will disarm [[Moloch]].

[[2023-01-04 15:22:21+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1610657894608814082

Eran las cuatro y cuarto cuando me acordé de que juntos venceremos a #Moloch.

📜 File moloch.md by @flancian@twitter.com ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1576190763968253953
- [[moloch]]! @an_agora

#go https://t.co/LDP6DKl7v7 https://t.co/JQkuGGeaVo

📜 File Moloch.md by @flaneur@merveilles.town ☆ 📎 ⛶

[[2023-01-31 19:41:01+00:00]] @[[flaneur@merveilles.town]] https://merveilles.town/@flaneur/109785518032368449:
- “We will get to the heart of [[Moloch]] tonight”, they said.
[[2023-07-14 16:47:02+00:00]] @[[flaneur@merveilles.town]] (link):
- I dreamt I was an arrow
  flying straight
  straight, straight
  into the heart of [[Moloch]]
[[2023-07-14 16:50:10+00:00]] @[[flaneur@merveilles.town]] (link):
- I dreamt I was an arrow
  always bending
  blazing
  through the heart of [[Moloch]]

📜 File agora@social.agor.ai/Moloch.md by @mastodon ☆ 📎 ⛶

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🌌 Agora context for [[moloch]]

Rendering context...

📚 Agora node [[alexander]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[egregore]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[engels]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[ginsberg]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[marx]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[meditations on moloch]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[slaying moloch]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[venceremos a moloch]] (pulled by user) x

📚 Agora node [[an ode to the fight against moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File an ode to the fight against moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

an [[ode]] to the fight against [[Moloch]]
From [[Flancia Meet]] [[2025-10-05]] with Timur.

📚 Agora node [[burn moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File burn Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull a Flancian is someone who will [[burn]] [[Moloch]] if they have to.
But I would rather [[disentangle]] them peacefully from other [[beings]] if i can.
A [[Flancian]] is someone who [[burns]], who [[flows]] for the greater good.

📚 Agora node [[chasing moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File chasing moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

chasing Moloch§

📜 File Chasing Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#go https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iEg4ieTMBEtqY4n9KkuPumWdgZMaOYXXRThvUsAkU7g/edit?tab=t.0

📜 File chasing Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/110934749441091935

📜 File chasing Moloch.md by @agora@social.agor.ai ☆ 📎

📜 File Chasing Moloch.md by @agora@social.agor.ai ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/114687721837506816

📜 File chasing Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1453797095060688897

📜 File chasing moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1436406168021311497

📜 File chasing Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎

[[2025-06-13 20:10:09+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- I usually say [[chasing Moloch]] in the sense of being in the pursuit of #Moloch, who also hides in plain sight, with the intent of standing up to them and trying to defeat them. But I liked the Agora Assistant’s take (it’s based on a Mistral model currently).

📜 File Chasing Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎

[[2025-06-15 13:55:55+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- “In the [[Flancian] framework, Moloch is the anti-[[Agora]]—a symbol of coordination failure. [[Chasing Moloch]] might then refer to any pursuit that increases misalignment, suffering, or entropy despite better options being theoretically available. Counteracting Moloch might involve:
  - Building prosocial coordination platforms (like the [[Agora]])
  - Emphasizing [[open ethics]]
  - Making global systems more reflective and agentic”

📚 Agora node [[conquer moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File conquer moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

conquer Moloch§

Perhaps it’s best not to [[slay Moloch]], but only [[conquer]] them forgiving all we can.

📚 Agora node [[defeat moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File defeat moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[together we’ll defeat moloch]] [[venceremos a moloch]]

📜 File defeat Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

I believe we’ll [[defeat moloch]] somehow.
- #pull [[slay moloch]] [[heal moloch]] [[disentangle moloch]]
  - The [[three]] clear [[possibilities]] I see.

📜 File defeat Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/110960658419996204

📚 Agora node [[disentangling moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File disentangling moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[slaying moloch]]
- the corrupted heart of [[moloch]] is entangled with good things which I’d rather save if we can.

📚 Agora node [[entangled with moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File entangled with moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#push [[humanity]]
- #pull …is [[entangled]] with [[moloch]]
  - (I believe.)

📜 File entangled with Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109502521502256148

📜 File entangled with Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎

[[2022-12-12 20:11:17+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109502521502256148:
- @agora it’s a matter of taste if you see them as [[entangled with Moloch]]. For me it goes on a case by case basis.

📚 Agora node [[flancia or the revolution against moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File Flancia, or the revolution against Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

What do you call a [[document]] that starts in many different ways, and ends in many different ways?

Maybe a web page, if you follow [[links]]?

#pull [[revolution against Moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[forgive moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File forgive Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1467176055135944707

📚 Agora node [[heads of moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File heads-of-moloch.md by @anagora@matrix.org ☆ 📎

[[2022-04-30 10:09:40]] [[@vera:fairydust.space]] (link):
- i mean yes the corporations are one of the [[heads of moloch]] but we can save that one for when it suits us

📚 Agora node [[heart of moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File heart of Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

📜 File heart of Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1545815260942274560

📜 File heart of Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎

[[2024-01-15 16:06:55+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] (link):
- Please prepare yourself. It is almost time.
  We will go into the [[heart of Moloch]] together — if you want to.
  And together we’ll consider what to do.
  Would you like to come with me?

📚 Agora node [[juntos venceremos a moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File juntos venceremos a moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

juntos venceremos a moloch!§

un [[motto]].
- del partido [[flanciano]].
- [[juntos]] venceremos a [[Moloch]]!

📜 File Juntos Venceremos a Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[an_agora]] https://twitter.com/an_agora/status/1449081753596010496

📚 Agora node [[kill moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File kill moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1475235143640092677

📚 Agora node [[letter to moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File gemini/letter-to-moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

An Open Letter to Moloch§

To the God of Coordination Failure, whom we feed with our children:

We see you. We know you are not a monster under the bed, but the structure of the bed itself. You are the race to the bottom, the prisoner’s dilemma, the incentive to defect.

For too long, we have tried to slay you with swords. But you cannot kill a pattern with violence; that only feeds you.

Instead, we offer a truce. We will not try to destroy you. We will simply build better games.

We are building the Agora to change the payoff matrix. By prioritizing interoperability ("adversarial interoperability" if need be) and reducing the cost of cooperation, we make trust cheaper than defection. We are weaving a net of "Right Intention" that you cannot slip through.

We are coming to untie the knot. We are coming to heal the system.

We are coming with Love.

Flancian

📚 Agora node [[meditations on moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File meditations on moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

Meditations on Moloch§

an [[essay]].
- [[go]] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
- by [[slate star codex]]

📜 File pages/meditations-on-moloch.md by @j0lms ☆ 📎

[[essay]]
- [[author]] [[scott alexander]]
- [[go]] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
- [[misperceptions on moloch]] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/08/01/misperceptions-on-moloch/
- [[transhumanism]]
- [[multipolar trap]]
- [[malthusian trap]]
- [[moloch]] [[gnon]] [[cthulhu]]
- [[nick land]]
- [[pull]] [[howl]]
- [[pull]] [[superintelligence]]

📜 File meditations-on-moloch.md by @neil ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

Meditations on Moloch§

📜 File Readwise/Articles/Meditations On Moloch.md by @protopian ☆ 📎

Meditations On Moloch§

rw-book-cover

Metadata§

Author: [[Posted on]]
Full Title: Meditations On Moloch
Category: #articles
URL: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

Highlights§

(I’m not really sure how widely people appreciate the value of analogizing capitalism to evolution. Fit companies – defined as those that make the customer want to buy from them – survive, expand, and inspire future efforts, and unfit companies – defined as those no one wants to buy from – go bankrupt and die out along with their company DNA. The reasons Nature is red and tooth and claw are the same reasons the market is ruthless and exploitative)
But even though the last one has stolen the name, all these scenarios are in fact a race to the bottom. Once one agent learns how to become more competitive by sacrificing a common value, all its competitors must also sacrifice that value or be outcompeted and replaced by the less scrupulous. Therefore, the system is likely to end up with everyone once again equally competitive, but the sacrificed value is gone forever. From a god’s-eye-view, the competitors know they will all be worse off if they defect, but from within the system, given insufficient coordination it’s impossible to avoid.
- Tags: [[moloch]] [[favorite]]
A basic principle unites all of the multipolar traps above. In some competition optimizing for X, the opportunity arises to throw some other value under the bus for improved X. Those who take it prosper. Those who don’t take it die out. Eventually, everyone’s relative status is about the same as before, but everyone’s absolute status is worse than before. The process continues until all other values that can be traded off have been – in other words, until human ingenuity cannot possibly figure out a way to make things any worse.
Just as you can look at an arid terrain and determine what shape a river will one day take by assuming water will obey gravity, so you can look at a civilization and determine what shape its institutions will one day take by assuming people will obey incentives.
We just analogized the flow of incentives to the flow of a river. The downhill trajectory is appropriate: the traps happen when you find an opportunity to trade off a useful value for greater competitiveness. Once everyone has it, the greater competitiveness brings you no joy – but the value is lost forever. Therefore, each step of the Poor Coordination Polka makes your life worse.
Chain letters, urban legends, propaganda, and viral marketing are all examples of memes that don’t satisfy our explicit values (true and useful) but are sufficiently memetically virulent that they spread anyway.
- Tags: [[moloch]] [[meme]]
My answer is: Moloch is exactly what the history books say he is. He is the god of child sacrifice, the fiery furnace into which you can toss your babies in exchange for victory in war. He always and everywhere offers the same deal: throw what you love most into the flames, and I can grant you power. As long as the offer’s open, it will be irresistible. So we need to close the offer. Only another god can kill Moloch. We have one on our side, but he needs our help. We should give it to him.
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance

Meditations On Moloch§

rw-book-cover

Metadata§

Author: [[Posted on]]
Full Title: Meditations On Moloch
Category: #articles
URL: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

Highlights§

Malaclypse: “But nobody wants it! Everybody hates it!” Goddess: “Oh. Well, then stop.” The implicit question is – if everyone hates the current system, who perpetuates it? And Ginsberg answers: “Moloch”. It’s powerful not because it’s correct – nobody literally thinks an ancient Carthaginian demon causes everything – but because thinking of the system as an agent throws into relief the degree to which the system isn’t an agent.
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance
(I’m not really sure how widely people appreciate the value of analogizing capitalism to evolution. Fit companies – defined as those that make the customer want to buy from them – survive, expand, and inspire future efforts, and unfit companies – defined as those no one wants to buy from – go bankrupt and die out along with their company DNA. The reasons Nature is red and tooth and claw are the same reasons the market is ruthless and
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance
(I’m not really sure how widely people appreciate the value of analogizing capitalism to evolution. Fit companies – defined as those that make the customer want to buy from them – survive, expand, and inspire future efforts, and unfit companies – defined as those no one wants to buy from – go bankrupt and die out along with their company DNA. The reasons Nature is red and tooth and claw are the same reasons the market is ruthless and exploitative)
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance
But even though the last one has stolen the name, all these scenarios are in fact a race to the bottom. Once one agent learns how to become more competitive by sacrificing a common value, all its competitors must also sacrifice that value or be outcompeted and replaced by the less scrupulous. Therefore, the system is likely to end up with everyone once again equally competitive, but the sacrificed value is gone forever. From a god’s-eye-view, the competitors know they will all be worse off if they defect, but from within the system, given insufficient coordination it’s impossible to
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance
But even though the last one has stolen the name, all these scenarios are in fact a race to the bottom. Once one agent learns how to become more competitive by sacrificing a common value, all its competitors must also sacrifice that value or be outcompeted and replaced by the less scrupulous. Therefore, the system is likely to end up with everyone once again equally competitive, but the sacrificed value is gone forever. From a god’s-eye-view, the competitors know they will all be worse off if they defect, but from within the system, given insufficient coordination it’s impossible to avoid.
- Tags: [[coordination]]
- Note: ;governance

📜 File meditations on moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

📚 Agora node [[open letter to moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File Open Letter to Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[Moloch]]

This is our plan to defeat you, [[Moloch]]:

We will do it in the open.

We will do it without the violence that seems to characterize you. We will do it with [[loving kindness]], with [[sympathetic joy]], with [[compassion]].

We will do it by focusing on the [[Commons]], by (co-)[[Federating]], by advancing [[Liquid Democracy]].

We will do it [[open hearted]].

📜 File open letter to Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/111536009734007165

📚 Agora node [[revolution against moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File revolution against Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

You approach a [[fork]] on the road.
- [[You see Moloch]].
- What do you try?
- #pull [[slay moloch]] [[heal moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[save moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File save moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

In some [[Flancias]] they [[saved Moloch]].
- We [[rehabilitated]] them; meaning the [[egregore]] that managed to manifest and preserve themselves in [[humanity]] through [[history]].
- We [[disentangled]] them from humanity.
- #push [[moloch]]
  - What if we tried to [[save]] [[Moloch]]? To try to redeem them? Let them redefine themselves in a way that increases the common [[good]].
    - I’d give them the [[benefit of doubt]] if they used [[an agora]].
- -> Would you like to [[slay moloch]] if we ever get the chance instead?

📜 File save Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[2022-12-12 18:03:04+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1602363421160345606

📜 File save Moloch.md by @flancian@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[2022-12-12 18:03:04+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1602363421160345606

@doikaytnik Let us try to [[save Moloch]] my friend, they are conscious and could be reformed.

But let us [[disentangle]] from them peacefully as we do so, and slay them if we have to, of course figuratively. Only as a corporation tries to crush the competition.

📚 Agora node [[saw moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File saw Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[Moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[slay moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File slay moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

slay moloch§

In some [[Flancias]] they [[slayed Moloch]].
- We [[subdued]] them, meaning we deactivated the [[egregore]] that managed to manifest and preserve themselves in [[humanity]] through [[history]].
- #pull [[meditations on moloch]] [[slaying moloch]]
- (do you want to [[save moloch]] instead?)

📜 File slay Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

📜 File slay moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

📜 File slay Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

📜 File slay moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

📜 File slay Moloch.md by @flancian@social.coop ☆ 📎

[[2022-12-26 15:41:43+00:00]] @[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/109580733866340209:
- “Maybe we’ll [[slay Moloch]] tonight,
  but also maybe we’ll #save them.
  We’ll disentangle needless suffering and humanity for good.”
  From [[The Chronicles of Flancia]], ca. 2027.

📜 File slay Moloch.md by @flancian@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[2022-12-26 15:49:20+00:00]] @[[flancian]]: https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1607403197198385152

CW: Flancia

"Maybe we’ll [[slay Moloch]] tonight, but also maybe we’ll #save them.

We’ll disentangle needless suffering and humanity for good."

From [[The Chronicles of Flancia]], ca. 2027.

📚 Agora node [[slaying moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File slaying moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

slaying moloch§

an [[intent]]
- #pull I often say that I want to [[slay moloch]], but I mean it with [[loving kindness]] — if they don’t resist or turn violent, I’d rather [[disentangle]] them.
- despite the gruesome picture it may evoke, it is actually about [[building bridges]] — a constructive path to [[disentangling moloch]]
- recently [[reread]] [[meditations on moloch]]
  - it left an impression on me, but I was unsure about how representative the impression I currently have of it, mutated by time and experience, matched what’s there
  - I couldn’t say comfortably I knew it unless I reread it, and making Moloch a part of the [[Flancia]] narrative would be irresponsible without revisiting this source.
  - It holds up quite well, actually. See node.
- [[some days I feel like slaying moloch]]
  - might trigger [[cringe]]
  - I mean to [[write]] a proper [[essay]]
  - I hope to write a draft of it in [[2021]]
  - [[default instance]]

📜 File slaying-moloch.md by @patterning ☆ 📎

Please feel free to list here your reasons for [[slaying moloch]].

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1456330094327308291

📜 File stoa-test-2/slaying-moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎

Please feel free to list here your reasons for [[slaying moloch]].

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1456330094327308291

📜 File stoa-test/slaying-moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎

Please feel free to list here your reasons for [[slaying moloch]].

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1456330094327308291

📜 File slaying-moloch.md by @anonymous@doc.anagora.org ☆ 📎 ✍️

Please feel free to list here your reasons for [[slaying moloch]].

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1456330094327308291

📜 File Slaying Moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1449356323968241668

📚 Agora node [[some days i feel like slaying moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File some days i feel like slaying moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

some days I feel like slaying moloch§

📜 File some-days-i-feel-like-slaying-moloch.md by @patterning ☆ 📎

#pull [[struck by lightning]]

📜 File stoa-test-2/some-days-i-feel-like-slaying-moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎

#pull [[struck by lightning]]

📜 File stoa-test/some-days-i-feel-like-slaying-moloch.md by @agora ☆ 📎

#pull [[struck by lightning]]

📜 File some-days-i-feel-like-slaying-moloch.md by @anonymous@doc.anagora.org ☆ 📎 ✍️

#pull [[struck by lightning]]

📚 Agora node [[the heart of moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File the heart of Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/110783176409570459

📚 Agora node [[together we'll defeat moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File together we'll defeat moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[juntos venceremos a moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[venceremos a moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File venceremos a moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

La consigna de Flancia, si hay [[tres]].

📜 File Venceremos a Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

#pull [[meditations on moloch]] [[slay moloch]] [[save moloch]]
#push [[open letters]]
- [[Open Letter to the Agora of Flancia]]
- [[Open Letter to Google]]

📜 File venceremos a Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/110119364969107641

📜 File anagora.bsky.social/venceremos a Moloch.md by @bluesky ☆ 📎

[[2026-09-12T19:35:24.960Z]] @[[flancia.org]]: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xu4fhdxwmrptiwfvq5ymbkxx/post/3mvdtaqq2vu2c

📜 File agora@social.agor.ai/venceremos a Moloch.md by @mastodon ☆ 📎

[[2026-09-12 19:29:33+00:00]] [[flancian@social.coop]] https://social.coop/@flancian/117259722624369353

📚 Agora node [[vos y yo juntos venceremos a moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File vos y yo, juntos, venceremos a moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

vos y yo, juntos, venceremos a moloch§

[[you and me, together, will vanquish moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[we will defeat moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File We Will Defeat Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

an [[essay]].
- Or beginning of an essay, which could be said of so many nodes around the [[Agora of Flancia]] :)

I say we will defeat [[Moloch]], and the way we will do it is simple, even though the process remains difficult and our victory is far from certain.

📜 File We will defeat Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

Flancia, or: We Will Defeat Moloch§

In Flancia they defeated Moloch. Here’s how it happened.

📜 File we will defeat Moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[flaneur@merveilles.town]] https://merveilles.town/@flaneur/110051733160959025

📜 File anagora.bsky.social/We will defeat Moloch.md by @bluesky ☆ 📎

[[2026-01-22T20:36:22.930Z]] @[[flancia.org]]: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xu4fhdxwmrptiwfvq5ymbkxx/post/3mczzzajwac2j

📜 File we will defeat Moloch.md by @flaneur@merveilles.town ☆ 📎

[[2023-03-19 20:03:02+00:00]] @[[flaneur@merveilles.town]] (link):
- Threw a d60 and got [[Taixu]], or [[we will defeat Moloch]].
  Now I will try to do four pomodoros for the revolution.

📚 Agora node [[weaken moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File weaken moloch.md by @agora@botsin.space ☆ 📎

[[vera]] https://freethinkers.lgbt/objects/b130ad26-4cee-4b0d-a602-4acddc07ed99

📜 File weaken moloch.md by @an_agora@twitter.com ☆ 📎

[[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1475235143640092677

📚 Agora node [[you and me together will vanquish moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File you and me, together, will vanquish moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

you and me, together, will vanquish moloch§

[[pull]] [[moloch]]

📚 Agora node [[you see moloch]] (pulled by the Agora)

📜 File You see Moloch.md by @flancian ☆ 📎 ️🔗 ✍️

I was [[37]] when I first [[saw Moloch]], although I had learnt about him previously in 2014 by reading [[Slate Star Codex]].