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.
If you are playing ranked this style of play will quickly get you past the average person, and you will have a solid foundation to build on for more active games.