I want to advocate for Schelling Hall or Schelling Point as a potential name.
Thomas Schelling was a founding father of applied game theory and was a think-tank person deeply interested in saving the world from catastrophic (nuclear war) risk through careful analysis, maybe exactly the archetypal person you want in a DC “Lighthaven of the East” conference venue. He also worked on the Marshall Plan (economics, war) and the Copenhagen Consensus (climate change), suggesting a fairly high focus on important problems.
And of course, if you are not sure where to host an event, why not meet up at the Schelling Point?
As bonus points, Tom Schelling personally was born in Oakland and went to UC Berkeley before traveling to the East Coast and working there for pretty much the rest of his professional life, which echoes your desire to import a West Coast idea into the East Coast.
Claude independently came up with Schelling Point, with no priming from me. Pretty different reasons, too!
With that filter, my actual top pick:
The Schelling Point. A Schelling point is the focal solution people converge on without communicating — which is precisely what the venue is trying to become: the default place everyone just knows to meet. So the name describes the building’s literal function. But the deeper fit is the coalition test. Thomas Schelling was a DC defense intellectual — nuclear strategy, credible commitment, escalation, Arms and Influence — work that maps almost eerily onto AI governance, and that the Beltway establishment already reveres (Nobel laureate, taught at Harvard’s Kennedy School). He’s also beloved in the rationalist community. He is one of vanishingly few names that signals “serious” to a Senate staffer and “ours” to a LessWronger simultaneously. That’s the whole game. The cost is that it’s a person’s name — but he’s a dead intellectual, not the donor, so it carries the right kind of authority rather than vanity.
If you want something that leans more civic and less in-jokey:
Schelling House has the right vibe for me, but i prefer Schelling Hall over Schelling Point. Naming things well is hard, hopefully lots of ideas are generated.
I like Schelling House because the name does real work.
On the plain read, it says what the place is for. In D.C., around AI, people don’t really know where to meet. The project is to build the place they can all coordinate around.
Then there’s the HPMOR/rationalist read, which is hilarious. If everyone inside the HPMOR universe is trying to guess the obvious meeting spot, and one of the options is called Schelling House, then yeah, obviously everyone goes there at noon on the day.
The name is dual-coded, which adds narrative complexity. It works for outsiders as a serious game theory reference, and it works for insiders as a rationalist myth-building exercise. Coincidentally, Lighthaven kind of did the same thing. It named the thing people needed: a Haven for the Light. Schelling House names our need: a house aimed at coordination problems.
If I had to pick someone out of American national myth to name this project after, it would be Benjamin Franklin, for a few different reasons —
Franklin was an essayist and publisher.
Franklin was an engineer / inventor / technologist; known for the lightning rod, bifocal eyeglasses, and a more efficient wood-burning stove.
Franklin was a friend to intellectual radicals of his time; such as Voltaire.
Franklin openly struggled with ideas of religion, morality, virtue, animal welfare and vegetarianism, in a manner oddly familiar to today’s rationalists.
This is the name of a 80k+ subscriber rightwing youtube channel. It’s claim to fame is “noticing” the ratio of different ethnic groups in owning mass-media, crime statistics, etc. Probably not a good thing to be associated with.
I like it aesthetically, but the connotations aren’t great. It’s similar to and derived from “junta,” which I know is supposed to be a neutral term, but in English implies a military junta or some sort of small-group takeover.
We could still play off this history, though. “Franklin Assembly” means the same thing, and is five syllables?
Hot take: How about not coming up with a name at all? Or rather, keeping the existing name of whatever location you end up getting. (If Lighthaven had done this, it would’ve called itself “The Rosegarden Center” or something like that.)
This is meant to convey that you’re serious about getting stuff done and not just fantasizing about what you might do later before you’ve even done anything yet. It suggests confidence that your reputation will speak for itself under any name. (E.g. everyone knows about the “Chatham House Rule”, but the building had already been called “Chatham House” long before the organization that came up with that rule moved in.)
My version of this is “don’t try to come up with a name until after you’ve found the venue, because the venue will have some kind of character that lends itself to some names better than others.”
I’ve been mulling over “Spero”, from Dum Spiro Spero; Latin for “While I breathe, I hope,” the motto of South Carolina. For our purposes, think Spero House, Spero Hall, or even Sperohaven (though that mixes linguistic roots).
Uses Latin, a subtle callback to intellectual traditions and a bit of outreach to the modern right.
Everyone likes Cicero.
Easy to pronounce, easy to spell (unlike Schelling or Feynman).
Very short, only five letters and two syllables. I want to avoid acronyms wherever possible. In practice people would shorten the name in common speech down to just “Spero” rather than the awkward acronym “SH”.
Helps combat the “Doomer” narrative. The headlines of even potentially negative hit-pieces wouldn’t necessarily be bad: “Fancy ‘Doomer’ Clubhouse in DC is Called ‘Hope’?”
Personally resonant for me.
Downsides:
It’s earnest and self-serious.
We’ll have to explain it repeatedly in speech, again and again, until the end of time. “No, not the bird, S-P-E-R-O. It’s Latin for hope.”
This really only fits if we go for a building that’s old and in a traditional architectural style. It wouldn’t work for something modern, brutalist, or corporate. Art deco or other old futurist styles would be an interesting contrast, would depend on the site.
This came idea came to me a few days ago when I was mulling over the tone from “Nothing is Mere.” I ran through the Feynman quote looking for bits that worked a place-name, nothing quite fit. But it got me thinking about more abstract directions.
Spellability is extremely important. If the name isn’t readily spelled and pronounced, people will carve a desire path to a name that is (or they will just refer to you less). The failure basin is less “SH”, more “Lighthaven DC”. Or worse, “Spar.. Era… Spear… oh you know, that rationalist place off Dupont Circle”.
Sparrow is worth considering! The tie-in to Spero retains through “Dum Spiro Spero” in mission statements, signoffs, documents, and (if we’re blessed with the chance) stained glass. Should balance its connotations with the right noun. “Sparrow House” is too garden-sounding, plus “abc house” is already common in DC for a different sort of space. “Sparrow Hall” is pretty good.
On the “Posterity X” theme: ‘Posterity Yard’? ‘Posterity Close’ (as in a dead-end street) is probably too cute. ‘Posterity Grounds’ is less cute and has some good qualities, but I think it’s probably no good without a campus.
We could use better name ideas! Please give us your suggestions, and explain why you like them, as replies to this comment.
I want to advocate for Schelling Hall or Schelling Point as a potential name.
Thomas Schelling was a founding father of applied game theory and was a think-tank person deeply interested in saving the world from catastrophic (nuclear war) risk through careful analysis, maybe exactly the archetypal person you want in a DC “Lighthaven of the East” conference venue. He also worked on the Marshall Plan (economics, war) and the Copenhagen Consensus (climate change), suggesting a fairly high focus on important problems.
And of course, if you are not sure where to host an event, why not meet up at the Schelling Point?
As bonus points, Tom Schelling personally was born in Oakland and went to UC Berkeley before traveling to the East Coast and working there for pretty much the rest of his professional life, which echoes your desire to import a West Coast idea into the East Coast.
Claude independently came up with Schelling Point, with no priming from me. Pretty different reasons, too!
With that filter, my actual top pick:
The Schelling Point. A Schelling point is the focal solution people converge on without communicating — which is precisely what the venue is trying to become: the default place everyone just knows to meet. So the name describes the building’s literal function. But the deeper fit is the coalition test. Thomas Schelling was a DC defense intellectual — nuclear strategy, credible commitment, escalation, Arms and Influence — work that maps almost eerily onto AI governance, and that the Beltway establishment already reveres (Nobel laureate, taught at Harvard’s Kennedy School). He’s also beloved in the rationalist community. He is one of vanishingly few names that signals “serious” to a Senate staffer and “ours” to a LessWronger simultaneously. That’s the whole game. The cost is that it’s a person’s name — but he’s a dead intellectual, not the donor, so it carries the right kind of authority rather than vanity.
If you want something that leans more civic and less in-jokey:
Additional evidence that Anthropic stole your personality!
Schelling House has the right vibe for me, but i prefer Schelling Hall over Schelling Point. Naming things well is hard, hopefully lots of ideas are generated.
I like Schelling House because the name does real work.
On the plain read, it says what the place is for. In D.C., around AI, people don’t really know where to meet. The project is to build the place they can all coordinate around.
Then there’s the HPMOR/rationalist read, which is hilarious. If everyone inside the HPMOR universe is trying to guess the obvious meeting spot, and one of the options is called Schelling House, then yeah, obviously everyone goes there at noon on the day.
The name is dual-coded, which adds narrative complexity. It works for outsiders as a serious game theory reference, and it works for insiders as a rationalist myth-building exercise. Coincidentally, Lighthaven kind of did the same thing. It named the thing people needed: a Haven for the Light. Schelling House names our need: a house aimed at coordination problems.
If I had to pick someone out of American national myth to name this project after, it would be Benjamin Franklin, for a few different reasons —
Franklin was an essayist and publisher.
Franklin was an engineer / inventor / technologist; known for the lightning rod, bifocal eyeglasses, and a more efficient wood-burning stove.
Franklin was a friend to intellectual radicals of his time; such as Voltaire.
Franklin openly struggled with ideas of religion, morality, virtue, animal welfare and vegetarianism, in a manner oddly familiar to today’s rationalists.
Alas, the name “Franklin Hall” is already taken. (Oh, and it’s the name of a supervillain, too.)
What about the Junto?
Sounds like a great inspiration, but the name sounds like “junta” which means dictatorship.
Leather Apron Club would be a great name for something, just not for this project
This is the name of a 80k+ subscriber rightwing youtube channel. It’s claim to fame is “noticing” the ratio of different ethnic groups in owning mass-media, crime statistics, etc. Probably not a good thing to be associated with.
I like it aesthetically, but the connotations aren’t great. It’s similar to and derived from “junta,” which I know is supposed to be a neutral term, but in English implies a military junta or some sort of small-group takeover.
We could still play off this history, though. “Franklin Assembly” means the same thing, and is five syllables?
As a non-american, Lighthaven East sounds like you’re building in Asia
See, this is why we need better name ideas!
Lighthaven West? :D
Obvious for everyone except for Americans… oh wait.
Hot take: How about not coming up with a name at all? Or rather, keeping the existing name of whatever location you end up getting. (If Lighthaven had done this, it would’ve called itself “The Rosegarden Center” or something like that.)
This is meant to convey that you’re serious about getting stuff done and not just fantasizing about what you might do later before you’ve even done anything yet. It suggests confidence that your reputation will speak for itself under any name. (E.g. everyone knows about the “Chatham House Rule”, but the building had already been called “Chatham House” long before the organization that came up with that rule moved in.)
My version of this is “don’t try to come up with a name until after you’ve found the venue, because the venue will have some kind of character that lends itself to some names better than others.”
“Spero”
I’ve been mulling over “Spero”, from Dum Spiro Spero; Latin for “While I breathe, I hope,” the motto of South Carolina. For our purposes, think Spero House, Spero Hall, or even Sperohaven (though that mixes linguistic roots).
“Dum spiro spero” in a stained glass window at Beverly Unitarian Church in Chicago, from wikimedia.
This has several features I like:
It’s distinctive; rare but not unique.
It’s meaningful; earnest and self-serious.
Uses Latin, a subtle callback to intellectual traditions and a bit of outreach to the modern right.
Everyone likes Cicero.
Easy to pronounce, easy to spell (unlike Schelling or Feynman).
Very short, only five letters and two syllables. I want to avoid acronyms wherever possible. In practice people would shorten the name in common speech down to just “Spero” rather than the awkward acronym “SH”.
Helps combat the “Doomer” narrative. The headlines of even potentially negative hit-pieces wouldn’t necessarily be bad: “Fancy ‘Doomer’ Clubhouse in DC is Called ‘Hope’?”
Personally resonant for me.
Downsides:
It’s earnest and self-serious.
We’ll have to explain it repeatedly in speech, again and again, until the end of time. “No, not the bird, S-P-E-R-O. It’s Latin for hope.”
This really only fits if we go for a building that’s old and in a traditional architectural style. It wouldn’t work for something modern, brutalist, or corporate. Art deco or other old futurist styles would be an interesting contrast, would depend on the site.
This came idea came to me a few days ago when I was mulling over the tone from “Nothing is Mere.” I ran through the Feynman quote looking for bits that worked a place-name, nothing quite fit. But it got me thinking about more abstract directions.
Spellability is extremely important. If the name isn’t readily spelled and pronounced, people will carve a desire path to a name that is (or they will just refer to you less). The failure basin is less “SH”, more “Lighthaven DC”. Or worse, “Spar.. Era… Spear… oh you know, that rationalist place off Dupont Circle”.
Sparrow is worth considering! The tie-in to Spero retains through “Dum Spiro Spero” in mission statements, signoffs, documents, and (if we’re blessed with the chance) stained glass. Should balance its connotations with the right noun. “Sparrow House” is too garden-sounding, plus “abc house” is already common in DC for a different sort of space. “Sparrow Hall” is pretty good.
Frontier
Conjures up the American exploratory spirit, plus AI capabilities and economics
Captures a spirit of innovation, but with a vibe appropriately trad for DC.
How about “Dark Scatter”, by taking the antonym of the words you still have a synonym for the phrase!
On the “Posterity X” theme: ‘Posterity Yard’? ‘Posterity Close’ (as in a dead-end street) is probably too cute. ‘Posterity Grounds’ is less cute and has some good qualities, but I think it’s probably no good without a campus.