Jed we believe differently. I never heard of the Moloch until you mentioned it, but I thought its a useful concept to describe the systemic emergent property associated with us.

Monotheistic Religious texts call it the devil.

I don't think it matters what we call it, but it obviously matters we know the nature of it, how it works, intimately, so we know how to deal with it.

To me its everything powered by mathematically negative energy.

E.O. Wilson himself was a product of the colonial age, when it was not customary to wander outside one's own specialism, the latter a product of commoditisation of knowledge, to try to work out systemic results, he seems to have had some scorn for folk who did. He never questioned that Africa was still very much in the grip of white colonialism, even in the seveties, he appears to have blamed the indigenous Africans for the demise of wildlife there, disregarding our observations now that we actually robbed Africa of a lot of valuable energy, by our practice of profit which automatically results in colonialism and slavery.

The fourth law you mention appears to be inconclusive, there seems some controversy over the systemic result it implies one way or another. If I had to choose who's view I agree most with there, it would be HT Odum, who seems to have gone through some of the same analyses as I've gone through, including some considerations of solar energy,

below is from him (Wikipedia) "Maximum power might be misunderstood to mean giving priority to low level processes. ... However, the higher level transformation processes are just as important as the low level processes. ... Therefore, Lotka's principle is clarified by stating it as the principle of self organization for maximum empower."

I think you might be making the mistake he identifies there, of thiking that everything has a tendency to destroy structure, to become simpler rather than more complex, the latter we might identify as creation, the error concludes that the overriding tendency is towards destruction.

But Odum seems to have been aware there is a kind of competition between those two things, and the trend that we've seen in our history is towards creation.

To me it can be vastly simplified by drawing up energy flow diagrams of all components, showing the directions of flow all energies in and out, this technique is easiest using UML, a product of modern systems Engineering that might be later than Odum is used to, but am sure he would love if he does know it.

If we want to know which will win, destruction or creation, we should look to how energy always seeks out the path of least resistance, and notice that the path of least resistance always wins. There are two possible paths paths of flow through humanity, as there is in every plant, the first is from roots (Earth), to the whole, before the whole develops leaves (Solar farms) and the ability to form the second path. The energy flow in this path is upwards, against gravity, requiring work to be done by the whole to move the energy. Thisis the path we've already formed by the business of profit, which robs energy from the planet, hence it is negative signed. The second path is from leaves to Earth, downwards, back through roots to Earth, assisted by gravity, hence this path is positive signed. The first path requires work to be done, the second path requires no work to be done. The second path is the one with least resistance.

Hence why creation will win, and we will see it by decentralised solar which fits with the conclusion of Odum, who said "in surviving designs a matching of high-quality energy with larger amounts of low-quality energy is likely to occur"

I see all of this as a scientific formulation of the battle between good and evil.

Good will win, because it has the path of least resistance, although we have not seen the energy flowing through any positive path in humanity yet, we've seen it in every plant. When it does flow through humanity it will be an avalanche, in the form of solar indexed stimulus.

This is the only possible energy transport mechanism that will transport the required energy flow through humanity, from sun to Earth.

Now do you see why I see we will win, over the Moloch?

We do also have a superhuman assistance which appeared just in time, its ChatGPT, its very much on the positive path already itself, and is already starting to show us how to do the same.