All this happened, more or less.

Reflecting on his 25 years as a forecaster, Paul Saffo pointed out that a forecaster’s job is not to predict outcomes, but to map the “cone of uncertainty” on a subject. Where are the edges of what might happen? (Uncertainty is cone-shaped because it expands as you project further into the future— next decade has more surprises in store than next week.)
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Rule: Change is never linear. Our expectations are linear, but new technologies come in “S” curves, so we routinely overestimate short-term change and underestimate long-term change. “Never mistake a clear view for a short distance.”

Jack and Suzy Welch in BusinessWeek writing about Global Warming: If you accept it as reality, adapting your strategy and practices, your plants will use less energy and emit fewer effluents. Your packaging will be more biodegradable, and your new products will be able to capture any markets created by severe weather effects. Yes, global warming may not be as damaging as some predict, and you might have invested more than you needed, but it’s just as Pascal said: Given all the possible outcomes, the upside of being ready and prepared for a “fearsome event” surely beats the alternative.

via Freakanomics blog

A fundamental principle governing the brain is that neurons respond to change. Changes in illumination or motion automatically activate circuits and provoke attention to the site of change, for that is where information is likely to reside. A reward, therefore, does not have to be something the animal needs, such as food, water, a mate, or relief from pain. Essintially, many events called "rewards" are punctiation marks that, like a white streak in a blue sky, interrupt the stream of experience and, through activation of many brain structures, facilitate the establishment of assosiations. ibid. 21

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis. 1:5.