Every Bay Area Walled Compound - Dave Kasten Substack

Every Bay Area "Walled Compound" - by David Kasten 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 So It Turns Out by Dave Kasten 

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 David Kasten Jan 23, 2025 4 Share Hi, 

 So here are some things I’ve been thinking about this past year (With apologies and thanks to the incomparable Scott Alexander , Richard Ngo , Ricki Heicklen , and Emma Liddell). 

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 You’re in Berkeley unexpectedly. You’d hoped 1 this would be the one trip through SFO this year where you didn’t end up at your favorite conference venue ( previously , previous-er-ly ), but, well, life had other plans. Your vacation plans fell through in an unexpected way, and in addition to being an excellent conference venue, and a target of the odd conspiracy theory by journalists with poor fact-checking skills , Lighthaven sometimes offers surprisingly affordable housing last-minute, for those in the know. 

 The next morning, you wake up in your stylish bedroom. 

 You wander through the common area, and see three individuals in monk’s robes congregated around the kitchen island. The seniormost-seeming monk is interrogating the juniormost about their strategy for fairly cutting the chocolate cake in front of them and distributing the slices. 

 You’ll later learn, appropriately, that the juniormost monk was tricked into coming to Lighthaven by means of a single, inaccurate electronic message to volunteer to assist with planning their Petrov Day commemorations . 2 

 After all, it’s better to rein in help, then serve some leaven.

 You amble out to the beautiful secret garden. (So secret that you, ah, literally missed it on your first trip to Lighthaven, despite it being approximately 30% of the total grounds. Look, there were some good talks going on, and you were busy.)

 Photo credit: Lighthaven. This tree is a great place to hold a Kabbalat Shabbat underneath, incidentally.

 Canada geese fly overhead, honking. Your inner Ohioan notices that you are confused ; it’s the wrong season for them to have migrated this far south, and they’re flying west wards, anyways. 

 A quick Google discovers that some Canada geese have now established themselves non-migratorily in the Bay Area: 

 The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 banned hunting or the taking of eggs without a permit. These protections, combined with an increase in desirable real estate—parks, golf course and the like—spurred a dramatic turnaround for the species. Canada geese began breeding in the Bay Area—the southern end of their range – in the late 1950s. 

 You nod, approvingly; this clearly is another part of the East Bay’s w

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