While I’m inclined to agree with a noted authority on the subject that British journalist Brian Appleyard is more than a bit of a dumbass when it comes to writing about science, pessimists like myself cannot but take at least some dark pleasure in a recent column of his in the New Statesman. Money grafs:

..[W]e are no longer allowed to be dark, ironic or, indeed, pessimistic. Neo-optimism is now as brutally enforced in Britain as it is in the United States. “In America, optimism has become almost like a cult,” the social psychologist Aaron Sackett told Psychology Today. “In this country,” says another American psychologist, “pessimism comes with a deep stigma.”

As with any cult, even reluctant individuals are forced to conform. In the same Psychology Today article, B Cade Massey, a professor of organisational behaviour [Faustus: forgive his spelling — he’s British] at Yale, says: “It has gotten to the point where people feel pressure to think and talk in an optimistic way.” Massey’s research shows that, when assessing the risks of investments or surgical procedures, people make predictions they know are overly optimistic just because they want to belong, even in life- or wealth-threatening crises, to the clan of idiot grinning optimists who seem to be in charge.”

Summary: he’s better at writing about movies than about science. Was worth my time to read. Probably worth yours.