It is a central tenet of any psychological or behavioral theory that human beings crave stability and predictability. So much do we need to rely on patterns of cause and effect that we will actually create illusions for ourselves so that what we think we see matches up to what we expected to see. That's just how we're hardwired.

Except - apparently - the reality based center-left community of self-styled sophisticates. For them, reality appears to be a constant unfolding of the unexpected. For a decade they've been telling us that Iran can be reasoned and bargained with - or, at worst, starved out. Turns out, not so much:

We're being a little unfair to the left, of course. In a pretty mundane sense - but also in a pretty technical sense - their expectations (which also happen to look a lot like their ideologically-driven unlimited faith in negotiations) more or less do line up with what they understand about Iran's nuclear ambitions. But that balance hasn't been achieved by adjusting the expectations to match reality.

References:
* Officials: Grim intelligence report on Iran coming [USA Today]

Previously:
* Purdue Nuclear Strategy Expert: Bomb Iran Now
* Mathematical Proof That Negotiating With Iran Is Stupid. Not Wrong. Stupid.
* Iran Gets Pretty Close To Openly Threatening Violence Against UN. UN Threatens Iran With Another Resolution.