Lags

It's been such a long time
I think I should be going
And time doesn't wait for me
It keeps on rolling
--Boston

Lags are time delays between cause and effect, between stimulus and response. Lags are a feature of nature. The time between planting a seed and germination. The time between sun hitting a rock and the rock getting hot. The time between force applied to a branch and the branch's failure.

Human behavior is influenced by various types of lags. Neuromuscular make-up creates a delay in muscular reflex. Cognition necessitates time to process information. Social pressures gradually nudge people to run with the herd.

When making sense of the world, lags must be accounted for. If we ignore the influence of lags, then reasoning and empirical analyses are apt to be flawed. Errors in understanding relationships (e.g., cause and effect) are likely.