Havens of Light at the Coming of the Dark - Dave Kasten Substack

Havens of light at the coming of shadows - by David Kasten 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 So It Turns Out by Dave Kasten 

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 So It Turns Out, #56

 David Kasten Jun 24, 2024 9 Share Hi, 
 So here are some things I thought about over the past few weeks. 

 Havens of light at the coming of shadows (or, notes from LessOnline and Manifest Conferences in Berkeley, CA) 

 I spent two weekends earlier this month at the LessOnline and Manifest Conferences in Berkeley, California. (About which, previously .) I came away refreshed, but far more uncertain about the future ahead. I’m not the first to write an essay about the experience; given that part of the conferences was about celebrating great writing on the Internet, let’s start by doing just that: 

 Theo Jaffee : 

 The secret behind Manifest’s unparalleled social atmosphere is the people it attracted. Every single person I talked to, without exception, was both smart and interesting. I could walk up to people I had never met before and instantly insert myself into a conversation on ancient Greek military history, prediction markets applied to romance, or whether AI will end the world. I could look across the room, realize “oh wow that’s so-and-so from Twitter!”, introduce myself, and immediately become friends with them…

 …The venue fit the occasion perfectly. Lighthaven is a complex of buildings on the site of the now-defunct Rose Garden Inn in Berkeley. When it’s not being used as an event space, it’s the working headquarters of Lightcone Infrastructure and home to many rationalists - a mix of village, hacker house, WeWork, and resort. Lighthaven has six buildings, each with their own unique character - from the wide open, more modern Aumann Hall to the darker, Gothic Bayes Hall. It’s absolutely bursting with places to sit and gather - giant indoor and outdoor sitting areas, more intimate upstairs salons, porches, roof decks, outdoor gazebos, an amphitheater, and even a small geodesic dome. Most rooms are tastefully appointed with soft carpets, low-to-the-ground seating, incredibly well-selected books, and ample natural lighting. Everything has variety, even the green spaces. The huge astroturfed green of Rat Park, meant for large gatherings, contrasts beautifully with the more contemplative Walled Garden, with its trees, flowers, and places to read, do work, or nap. 

 Zvi Mowshowitz : 

 I had a great time at LessOnline. It was a both a working trip and also a trip to an alternate universe, a road not taken, a vision of a different life where you get up and start the day in dialogue with Agnes Callard and Aristotle and in a strange combination of relaxed and frantically go from conversation to conversation on various topic

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