The Layout of the Plant

To a first approximation, the human world is a system of funnels. The mouth of the funnels can be of any width, but their outlets are always very, very narrow because human beings are only capable of processing a few bits of information a second. The content that flows through this system is further attenuated by a series of social mechanisms that constrict the effective diameter of the nozzles. The messages we receive have already been filtered thousands or millions of times, and we do our part to purify the broth of banality even more.