There is the line “thinking of the system as an agent throws into relief the degree to which the system isn’t an agent” so I see what you mean. But I think that just means that there’s no sane agent to deal with, no law of the universe that says we can appease Moloch in exchange for something.
But anthropomorphizing Moloch, perhaps poetically, is different, and there’s plenty of anthropomorphizing Moloch in the essay:
“But if we have bound Moloch as our servant, the bonds are not very strong, and we sometimes find that the tasks he has done for us move to his advantage rather than ours.”
“We will break our back lifting Moloch to Heaven, but unless something changes it will be his victory and not ours.”
“In the very near future, we are going to lift something to Heaven. It might be Moloch. But it might be something on our side. If it is on our side, it can kill Moloch dead.”
“Moloch is exactly what the history books say he is. He is the god of Carthage. 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 will grant you power. As long as the offer is open, it will be irresistable. 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.”
My frail human mind is more motivated by war on a hated enemy than by abstractly maximizing utility, so I like the idea of frustrating a raging Moloch.
There is the line “thinking of the system as an agent throws into relief the degree to which the system isn’t an agent” so I see what you mean. But I think that just means that there’s no sane agent to deal with, no law of the universe that says we can appease Moloch in exchange for something.
But anthropomorphizing Moloch, perhaps poetically, is different, and there’s plenty of anthropomorphizing Moloch in the essay:
“But if we have bound Moloch as our servant, the bonds are not very strong, and we sometimes find that the tasks he has done for us move to his advantage rather than ours.”
“We will break our back lifting Moloch to Heaven, but unless something changes it will be his victory and not ours.”
“In the very near future, we are going to lift something to Heaven. It might be Moloch. But it might be something on our side. If it is on our side, it can kill Moloch dead.”
“Moloch is exactly what the history books say he is. He is the god of Carthage. 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 will grant you power. As long as the offer is open, it will be irresistable. 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.”
My frail human mind is more motivated by war on a hated enemy than by abstractly maximizing utility, so I like the idea of frustrating a raging Moloch.