1 * 1 = 2, it is an ideology

One thing that @DonOfScience and his mob of mathematical, legal, and social illiterates have shown me is what the ideology of these times are.

1 * 1 = 2, or we will bury you.

If enough people, with the ability to raise a crowd say anything, it suddenly becomes serious. Like say the "birther" movement. Or the New York Times running columns about how single payor insurance doesn't control costs, when, in fact, it does. 1* 1 = 2.

But I don't feel good about this. At least ideologies like "the code is the law" are pragmatic. At a basic level, code, however twisted, has to work. The Code Is The Law might lead to very strange places, but changing it is open to anyone who can code. 1 * 1 = 2 isn't open to change, even getting your own crowd isn't enough.

I see over and over again how Twitter isn't just limited, it is limiting. How it creates people who are miniature bullies, counting on their crowd of followers to do the work. While a mini-blog news feed is really great, Twitter is really bad. I'm going to keep at it, because it is what it is, but there is an element of explosive strangeness, like living on a landscape that may one day explode.