Quoting Robin Sloan, You could extinguish a star, 2024

When you name something, you label the thing; frame it. This is an important job, before anyone has actually encountered that thing! But, very quickly, the flow of meaning reverses. The thing’s specific characteristics and its performance — its great success, we hope — fill the vessel of its name, which was pretty empty all along. Instead of the name defining the thing, the thing (re)defines the name. This happens with companies, with works of art, with people themselves.

So, when naming something, while it’s important to choose an appealing label, it’s probably more important to choose a vessel of sufficient capacity.

This is why the names Star Wars and Star Trek, both of which are objectively stupid, have been so successful: their very blandness leaves them capacious.

That’s important to understand! Names can be totally stupid. Apple? YouTube? Spider-Man? SPIDER-MAN?? Those labels glow with meaning and power, and it’s not because of the words.

Any name can work, as long as it doesn’t get in the way.

— Robin Sloan, You could extinguish a star, 2024

6:17am on October 3, 2024 from Bulgaria.


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creator: Silas Jelley
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available: 2024-10-03 06:17:50
created: 2024-10-03 06:17:50
updated: 2024-10-03 06:18:08
slug: 2024/10/03/061750
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title: Robin Sloan, You could extinguish a star, 2024
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