So things like prototyping, UML, use cases, and Agile were not a "serious attempt" to answer that? I think it's also unwise to tell your manager "it'll be done when it's done."
"You want it know, or when it's done?"
My personal experience is that most deadlines are primarily perceptual.
They follow the principle of "The best way to predict the future is to invent it"
so yes you are totally right about that.