Inertia.
Once upon a time in my college apartment a roommate left dishes in the sink for so long that the mold outgrew the container. Eventually it became easier for him to throw everything away and buy new stuff than it would have been to clean the old.
Sometimes it is difficult for humans to peel their asses from the couch and clean up a mess. Inertia holds us down.
Patience.
Another way to look at this toxic situation would be that my roommate exercised enough patience to allow for mother nature to change the question. What was, “To clean, or not to clean,” evolved into, “How fast can I throw this away and do the garbage trucks come tomorrow?”
Applying our knowledge to a new situation.
On the street immediately outside our school there has been sitting, for more than two years now, this car.
Hell, we’ve got 10 of those in our neighborhood 😉