[pitspotter2]

I get that bad news sells. It grabs attention I think partly because it's useful. It's a sort of 'prediction error' which helps us to learn from the misfortunes and mistakes of others.

However this doesn't explain the preponderance of pessimism in sci-fi. People generally turn to fiction for inspiration or at least comfort. Responsible parents would consider it wrong to read stories with bad endings to their children. Yet we have been pumping demoralising and potentially self-fulfilling nonsense to wider society for a while now.