In my personal life, I really use the ‘preparing for the worst, hoping for the best’ mentality to prepare myself emotionally for things that scare me, but I hadn’t thought about how this attitude might have leaked into my thinking about bigger issues like climate change or domestic politics.

I don’t think, however, that this mentality is always defeatist, however. Sometimes preparing for the worst helps us to find creative solutions to that worst-case scenario, and actionable steps to take if and when it comes to pass.