Two travelers set out to climb Mount Improbable. The first, Mr. Natural Causes, was hindered by very poor eyesight and the tendency to suffer from spasms that took him off course. Nonetheless, to some, he seemed to be making remarkable upward progress. Projections were that in one or two million years he would reach the top.
The second traveler, Ms. Human Effort, hired surveyors, mapped the mountain, enlisted a team and built a road. In a relatively short time she was driving her Jeep up the side of Mount Improbable. Perhaps it was a surprise or perhaps not, but when she reached the location where the construction crew finished their work, she discovered that the peak of the mountain was a mirage.
Ms. Effort returned to the base of the mountain and began to report what she had found. Some listened but many said that they would only give credence to information from Mr. Causes. She urged them to travel the road that she had built but only a few responded.