How the world really works

 The world has never worked perfectly,  but the majority of people in the Western developed world have lost sight of its resilience because they no longer are directly exposed to it.
This is one of the main points made by Vaclav Smil in a wide-ranging review of the perception distortions that make Westerners worry and be so easily worried. 
The point is; sound science in practice doesn't breed the now common panic , but the kind of intellectual practice that keeps addressing the real challenges we still face. 

There is more too that needs to be said once thinking people accept the distortions and disproportions -- but later.
Perception is very complex and made even more so by the huge levels of ignorance Vaclav points to.   
Beyond the above, there is the even greater challenge that resolution is not just about facts or even risks,  but involves profound process change and the guilt  , denial and projection that comes with imposed change and challenge. 


If we were to have a survey, I am sure those who worry about the world ending would highly correlate with those whose own world view of progress has already ended.
Cynicism is well known through the ages as being a place where those who can longer commit themselves to a place, hide.
The maddening hypocrisy is that the worriers say they believe in progress and rely on science, when they no longer believe in the former, nor properly study the latter incl economics.

Those of us who do not worry ( but are concerned and engaged ) are actually inspired by sound science and just how well the world works --having clearer views of where resilience isn't supported -so we can be far more effective in properly addressing the stressors ( eg contributors on this page )

Read " How the world really works" by Vaclav Smil