I can see both sides of that conversation. Yes, pessimism is realistic, but also that judgement contributes to that reality. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Th

I can see both sides of that conversation. Yes, pessimism is realistic, but also that judgement contributes to that reality. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The equilibrium can flip quickly after some unforeseen development shakes us out of it. Aldrin lived through such a flip -- I think it's hard to appreciate now how amazing aerospace developments were in the 50s/60s when the work was a societal priority. Kickstarter solved a kind of similar problem for entrepreneurs, where it used to be too hard to surface the hidden demand for a product. There must be something we could do about testing/exposing the support a political idea might have past the "activation energy" needed to roll into a different equilibrium. A simple poll isn't enough.