Fatalism: “a doctrine that events are fixed in advance so that human beings are powerless to change them.” I had considered titling this column “against catastrophizing” but, while that second word is indeed a word, it’s not often used. A friend suggested “against fatalism” as that second word is more widely understood, and so it is the title. My point remains: I am taking a stand, here, against this idea that nothing but catastrophe awaits and there is nothing we can do about it.