Meditations On Moloch [Full Essay]

'Meditations On Moloch' is an essay by Scott Alexander about competition, game theory, and multipolar traps. First posted in 2014, it quickly become popular and widely circulated within different intellectual and rationality communities. Historically, Moloch is the biblical name of a Canaanite god associated with war and child sacrifice. This essay was partially inspired by beatnik writer Allen Ginsberg’s famous poem about Moloch called "Howl"; a part of which is the spoken word heard during the first 4 minutes of this recording, and is how Alexander opens his written essay. Refer to the original essay to view all of the images and links included in it: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30... Part I 00:05 - Allen Ginsberg reading from "Howl" [1956] 04:20 - (End of Ginsberg clip / start of essay) 08:03 - 1. The Prisoner’s Dilemma 08:33 - 2. Dollar Auctions 09:07 - 3. The Fish Farming Story 12:49 - 4. The Malthusian trap 15:46 - 5. Capitalism 17:43 - 6. The Two-Income Trap 18:37 - 7. Agriculture 19:40 - 8. Arms Races 20:43 - 9. Cancer 21:36 - 10. The Race to the Bottom 23:24 - 11. Education 25:01 - 12. Science 27:00 - 13. Government Corruption 28:11 - 14. Congress Part II 29:07 - A Basic Principle of Multipolar Traps 33:19 - Mystical Experience in Las Vegas Part III - 37:20 38:37 - 1. Excess resources 40:18 - 2. Physical limitations 44:05 - 3. Utility maximization 49:55 - 4. Coordination Part IV - 54:52 Part V - 1:19:14 Part VI - 1:25:46 Part VII - 1:38:11 Part VIII - 1:41:10 The full Meditations On Moloch text essay: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30... The original audio recording used: https://sscpodcast.libsyn.com/meditat... Jeremiah, the creator of this recording, has a website and more podcasts: https://wearenotsaved.com/ Jeremiah and Scott Alexander are collaborators and their patreon can be found at:   / sscpodcast