Why can't we believe in Doom?

It's kind of funny - even as a so-called "Doomer" (at least according to my wife), even I can't really believe in the reality of what is happening.

My reason tells me we are going downhill fast, but my emotions tell me that everything will be just fine.

Is it just human nature to not be able to fully comprehend reality until it is too late? I don't think so. We modern humans are all here because our ancestors were very good at predicting the future and adapting. They had to be paranoid and watchful to survive in a world of enemies and dangers, without the benefit of a police force or a central government.

Why, then, are most of our fellow citizens what some preppers and survivalists refer to contemptuously as "sheeple"?

I would wager that most Western World citizens have been brainwashed by the ideology of Progress. The Enlightenment gave birth to the idea that using reason and science, humanity would be able to take control of its own fate, a very different view of history than existed in the Ancient world, where history and fate were seen as cyclical. The idea of the Wheel of Fortune of the goddess Fortuna are examples of that world view.

Descartes and his ilk thought that by reducing the material world to atoms and equations, we could predict and control it. Well, it's worked out pretty good for a long run. The element left out by Descartes and the Enlightenment optimists, though, was the limited nature of the physical world. The Earth has limited resources. Darwin explained that all species tend to overpopulate to the point where there is a crash in the population. The crash tends to overshoot in the other direction, due to a depleted environment.

Peak Oil is a reality, and despite the currently low gas prices, the reality of Peak Oil is a rabid bitch that's going to soon bite humanity in the ass. Another reason to prep. Those who are prepared do not guarantee their survival, but they certainly increase their chances.