Impending happiness comes from the trying to prevent impending doom, scientific advancement just doesn't come out from thin air.

That said, I'm not saying that people can't be overreacting in certain circumstances. But keep in mind this line of reasoning (ie things happen, and we can't do much) can be quite misleading and even dangerous in some cases (human can't cause global warming, how do you think some puny tiny human beings can do anything to the earth etc.)