The Pleasures of Pessimism

Pandemic, supervolcano, late capitalism, transhumanism, populism, cancel culture, the post-antibiotic age, the gig economy, the surveillance state, the cascading effects of climate change … Whatever the specifics, do you ever feel like things are going off the rails - or are just about to? If you’ve read the news, watched a zombie movie, or gotten into an argument on Twitter lately, the answer is probably yes. And you’re not alone. What makes us such apocaholics? What’s so appealing about Armageddon? What are the pleasures - and also the perils of our pessimism?