Rather amazing, how tough it is for people to understand systems with time delays. It's our natural tendency, apparently, to blame (or credit) the last person who touches the ball with the loss (or victory)—regardless of how many critical earlier mistakes (or brilliant plays) were made. And in a more serious context, consider:

• medicine, where quick-fix pills, celebrity weight-loss programs, and untested treatments are a huge business, while long-term important factors like healthy eating, moderate exercise, etc. are mostly ignored
• global climate, where major changes that take decades to unfold are confused with this year's blizzard or heat wave, and where technically sound commentary is drowned out by political shouting and self-serving obfuscation
• the economy, where many years of bad investment, mis-regulation, and criminal activity are forgotten, and the current situation is blamed on current political leadership

(cf. Transient Behavior (1999-05-11), Freedom Peace Commerce Education (2002-09-13), ...) - ^z - 2010-11-10