It don’t think it’s just a matter of pessimism—the phenomenon whereby “I cannot predict X” somehow becomes “X is not going to happen” can also happen when X is a bad thing (e.g. “there will be a major earthquake in L’Aquila in the next few days”).
EDIT: If you’ve heard the story about the convicted scientists, please read the article linked to, as most news coverage seriously distorted the story.
It don’t think it’s just a matter of pessimism—the phenomenon whereby “I cannot predict X” somehow becomes “X is not going to happen” can also happen when X is a bad thing (e.g. “there will be a major earthquake in L’Aquila in the next few days”).
EDIT: If you’ve heard the story about the convicted scientists, please read the article linked to, as most news coverage seriously distorted the story.