I started reading science fiction over 50 years ago. I found solace in their imaginative stories and insights into the future. They almost always projected THROUGH the doom that would befall mankind - the nuclear wars and devastation and the rebirth into something better.

I can't say that I am always hopeful and without anxiety about our future - I just have a part of me that simply doesn't want to believe the doom and gloom. And let me clarify. The doom & gloom crowd is not the same as the so called Doomsayers. To the former it's all f**ked - just dive into a bottle and stay there. Doomsayers I believe - though they don't always achieve this - are trying to point "eyes" toward an inevitable future unless change doesn't happen.

You have some excellent points here, George. Staying positive is not sticking one's head in the sand. It's just not relinquishing one's hold on something precious and useless - namely human life.

Good article!