Ephraim, Manasseh or Both? 3 Body Problems

No doubt it's getting easier to see the (K-shape, too-big-to-fail, insufficient rewards) problem of substituting empire for civilization. Unfortunately, history seems to play out as cycles of adequately predicting but never managing entropic disorder. Decentralization, cooperation and fair competition reemerges, after the once unifying center fails to hold. So I beg a larger question: Is society (e.g. media, art, science/technology) preparation or programming for these seeming inevitable cycles? How is it that sentient beings never resolve our nature (God) versus nurture (people) question inherent in every prophesy of every age? Hive/machine or free will? Ephraim, Manasseh or both?