Is the debate really as linear as the maps make it look?
A given argument can be supported by or disputed by many other arguments, but a given argument never (with one exception) supports or disputes more than one other argument. In other words, threads of argument branch outward, but never converge in one place. This forced simplicity is meant to aid the reader: many-to-one linkages inevitably cross over each other and turn to “spaghetti,” which is visually confusing. Of course, such cross-linkages among arguments do exist in the actual debate. On the maps, they are listed in the notes at the bottoms of argument summaries.
