I've heard several times that most people just want to hit buttons and do cool stuff, and you can win with safe play and punishment. It's a good point to winning, but it's hard to accept when I see top players not playing this way. It feels like I'm learning how to only play the average person. I guess that's something I'll have to accept until I can get myself good enough and high enough to play a more thoughtful match.
On the side, I think Sajam's doing a great job of trying to demystify fighting games for new players.