Here’s a seed of a possible future post, in response to the introductory part about Moloch:
The Four Demon Gods and the Psychologists Out to Stop Them
The bowels of Hell are divided by two rivers of flame into four quadrants.
The left-right axis reads Weakness on the left and Strength on the right. Weakness demons prey on cowardice and jealousy. Strength demons dominate and exploit.
The up-down axis reads Private on the bottom and Public on top. Private demons live in the hearts of individual human beings. Public demons live in the empty voids between people.
Our tour of Hell takes us clockwise around this wheel of Evil from the top left quadrant.
(1) The top left quadrant is the domain of Moloch. Moloch is Public Demon of Weakness. The decay of whole cities down incentive slopes, unbeknownst to their citizens. The whisper of defect, defect on frigid prison nights. The tragic coordination failures of naive libertarians. God’s chosen champion against Moloch is Scott Alexander.
(2) The top right quadrant is the domain of The Man, known sometimes as the Patriarchy and Big Brother. The Man is the Public Demon of Strength. The Man is Out to Get You for all you’ve got. The Man has his grubby fingers around the throat of every public conversation, framing the Overton Window however he wishes. God’s chosen champion against The Man is The Last Psychiatrist.
(3) The bottom right quadrant is the domain of Satan. Satan is the Private Demon of Strength. He is the perfectionist critic in your soul, the fallen angel of Justice. He judges the nature of being itself unworthy and screams for its destruction. God’s chosen champion against Satan is Jordan Peterson.
(4) The bottom left quadrant is the domain of The Underground Man. The Underground Man is the Private Demon of Weakness. He is a sick man, a spiteful man. He is the decay of the human soul into the basement-dweller and the Nice Guy. He is the weakness in your soul that allows things to crumble. God’s chosen champion against The Underground Man is Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Here’s a seed of a possible future post, in response to the introductory part about Moloch:
The Four Demon Gods and the Psychologists Out to Stop Them
The bowels of Hell are divided by two rivers of flame into four quadrants.
The left-right axis reads Weakness on the left and Strength on the right. Weakness demons prey on cowardice and jealousy. Strength demons dominate and exploit.
The up-down axis reads Private on the bottom and Public on top. Private demons live in the hearts of individual human beings. Public demons live in the empty voids between people.
Our tour of Hell takes us clockwise around this wheel of Evil from the top left quadrant.
(1) The top left quadrant is the domain of Moloch. Moloch is Public Demon of Weakness. The decay of whole cities down incentive slopes, unbeknownst to their citizens. The whisper of defect, defect on frigid prison nights. The tragic coordination failures of naive libertarians. God’s chosen champion against Moloch is Scott Alexander.
(2) The top right quadrant is the domain of The Man, known sometimes as the Patriarchy and Big Brother. The Man is the Public Demon of Strength. The Man is Out to Get You for all you’ve got. The Man has his grubby fingers around the throat of every public conversation, framing the Overton Window however he wishes. God’s chosen champion against The Man is The Last Psychiatrist.
(3) The bottom right quadrant is the domain of Satan. Satan is the Private Demon of Strength. He is the perfectionist critic in your soul, the fallen angel of Justice. He judges the nature of being itself unworthy and screams for its destruction. God’s chosen champion against Satan is Jordan Peterson.
(4) The bottom left quadrant is the domain of The Underground Man. The Underground Man is the Private Demon of Weakness. He is a sick man, a spiteful man. He is the decay of the human soul into the basement-dweller and the Nice Guy. He is the weakness in your soul that allows things to crumble. God’s chosen champion against The Underground Man is Fyodor Dostoevsky.