When the buckle on your seat belt snags and hangs up on the strap, you don't think about how good the tires are and how well the engine is running. You just bitch about the seat belt. It's human nature.

Sanderson might be awkward with character banter, but he thinks about those things you have to think about when working in an artificial world-- science, economics, warfare, etc. And with the incredible complexity of The Wheel of Time, we're fortunate to have such a workaholic to get through it second-hand.