Men who believe that they are accomplishing something by speaking speak in a different way from men who believe that speaking is a waste of time. Bob… - Neal Stephenson

Men who believe that they are accomplishing something by speaking speak in a different way from men who believe that speaking is a waste of time.

THE MOON BLEW UP WITHOUT WARNING AND FOR NO APPARENT reason.

Both Penang and the Internet were established basically for strategic military reasons. In both cases, what was built by the military was merely a kernel for a much vaster phenomenon that came along later. This kernel was really nothing more than a protocol, a set of rules. If you wanted to follow those rules, you could participate, otherwise you were free to go elsewhere. Because the protocol laid down a standard way for people to interact, which was clearly set out and could be understood by anyone, it attracted smart, adaptable, ambitious people from all over the place, and at a certain point it flew completely out of control and turned into something that no one had ever envisioned: something thriving, colorful, wildly diverse, essentially peaceful, and plagued only by the congestion of its own success.

In a manner familiar to anyone who had ever packed a car for a family trip, genial confusion gave way to impatience, then furious ultimatums, then ill-advised snap decisions.