The Mark on the Wall: The Outlets

I look upon the small electrical outlets on the wall and I being to questions some things that I've never had to question before. It seems so odd, but why is there always 2 plug-ins for every outlet? Would it make sense to only have one? Why not three. I've seen some with four, but usually only 2. Would it be better to have multiple plugins? A hassle? A cause of electrical fires? In my room at home I have many outlets, but they are lonely. They have only one cord feeding of their electron filled buffet of energy, and there is no second one. That is, of course, because I don't have much electronics in my room. A lamp, a reading light. A radio... the occasional laptop or cell phone charger... but on the whole not too much. Not that I am pseudo-Amish, I just don't use my room for much. A place to crash, a place sleep, not a place to live. That's what the living room is for, hence the name. But now in my room at college, there is a lack of open outlets. Power-strips are common place and used heavily. So, why is it that there are only two? Why not one, or ten?