The message is that the danger is so great that we should not bother with the ordinary evidential procedures of science. This chapter focuses on explanations for doomsday fears about population growth, though all such fears have much in common. The discussion is truncated because a scant treatment here is better than no treatment at all. The reasoning behind these matters, together with a discussion of the politics, requires an entire book to explain. I hope that such a book is forthcoming soon.
Bad news feeds on itself.
Bad news sells newspapers. You have read numerous examples of such statements in previous chapters by persons who are supposedly experts. I really heard it to every cell of my body. And there is a bucket more, including newspaper editorial writers, U.S. senators and representatives.