Think of a spider web, strong and sticky, stretched out before you, parallel to you, entrapping but not encasing, you in a corner. You hold out your hand to touch it, a little pressure into your arm, and you can feel the mass of threads resist slightly, but bulge out nonetheless against your touch. You withdraw your hand, sticky and wet, and it complies, springing back into its taut, criss-crossing shape. You know what you have to do to get out. You can either gently try to untangle yourself from the sticky mess by stretching the whole thing over your head and body. Or, you can brace yourself and with a lot of force, break through the mass of