One advantage to lockdowns, flattening the curve, extending things is that it gives people time to learn about this pandemic. It's complicated and like they keep saying, we don't know a lot about this, we're just learning about it. As time goes one, we learn more. The metrics... how long it survives, how it's most transmissible, the smart things to do to minimize the chances of your being infected, how to not infect others, what to do if you are infected. Also, the facilities for testing and treatment are continuing to develop. People will hopefully become more reasonable, not less. So many things will hopefully improve over time. All the time, we're getting closer to vaccines being available. Of course, as you say, staying below the ceiling limit of being able to handle the case load is a major reason for flattening the curve. But there's plenty of other good reasons too. Also, the less stressed the system is, the better treatment people will get. At the height of the pandemic in NYC, 80+% of people who got ventilated died! That figure's been halved, I believe.