I'm not saying you should be landing on an unsuitable runway
I understand that.
The "somewhere" between A and B is the key.
Yes. And what is a natural truth is that at the end of the day we ( the system) rely on individual humans to make that decision. Ultimately those individuals are the thousands of Captains charged with the responsibility and as such we will get hundreds of different opinions on what is acceptable on a particular day and what is not. We can't get away from that in 2016.
As long as that is the case, and as long as we are generally making progress with accident rates, then we are doing ok. The thing that I don't like to see is less conservative people ( especially those who don't have to make the call) judging the more conservative people who do make the call. As an example, I have taken 27 with a gusty 20kt crosswind and some downwind at night maybe 20 times and required 34 once, I feel like I am getting the decisions right, but am I? Maybe in my last year of work I'll bounce one and crack someone's back and realise I've spent 30 years not being conservative enough.....meanwhile Mrdeux tootles off to his farewell party having never hurt one of his pax...... who knows? That's my thoughts anyway, thanks for the discussion.