I do think many challenges are painted in worst possible case terms -- like Hollywood blockbusters where the stakes are always the world, of even the galaxy or the entire universe -- but by fixating on how that particular exaggeration is nearly always invariably wrong we miss the fact that, even at lower stakes, predicted catastrophes are often still plenty catastrophic. To give a quick, immediate example, though I'm currently writing from a internet connected, well heated house rather than from a scene from The Stand, 500,000+ and counting deaths in my country and many more worldwide isn't exactly something to shrug at...

I wish our collective psychology was able to accept crises as serious without resorting to raising the stakes to cosmic levels or dismissing it as not a real problem if you, personally, come out mainly ok.