I think that's because Moore's law is dead since about 2005 (?) and all optimistic predictions (Kurzweil etc) pretty much assumed it lasting decades longer. As a consequence we live in an age of technological stagnation since roughly 2008. Better smartphones but that's mostly it - no significant changes in daily life except for taxi apps. Show any nerd from 2008 life in 2022 - and they would get depressed.

Hopefully this decade is better - ubiquitous satellite internet, self driving cars, brain implants, maybe even fusion power plants (ARC)? Self driving cars and brain implants would be truly revolutionary for daily life.

As a techno-optimist myself, I understand where the doomerism is coming from. Civilization-ending wars and disasters are still very much in the cards today, and collectively human behavior shows at best a fluctuating will to live. So far we have detected no hint of alien activity out among the stars, or found any of the remnants we would expect a galaxy-spanning civilization to leave behind in our own neighborhood - leading us ever closer to the conclusion that long-lived interstellar civilizations are either unattainable or that we're the first intelligent life form to arise within billions of light years. So far we don't seem to show any large scale willingness to spread out to other worlds or to even consider the developments necessary for a sustainable long term future. Expected advances have not materialized, especially in medicine and physics. We're hostile to ideas like radical life extension, improving overall quality of life globally, getting rid of systemic injustices and suffering, using technology and foresight to dig ourselves out of environmental disasters.

Finally, instead of steadily gaining public support for science and technology, we seem to have left even more people behind whom we may not be getting back for generations, if ever. It is fully possible that humanity may split into several completely incompatible factions, and that may be the optimistic perspective! The growing fissures dividing us are very visible even on a technology-centered medium like HN.

Outliers notwithstanding, as a civilization the last two decades feel like we have given up on radical improvements. However, I believe outliers could still fulfill some of the promises of optimistic futurism, even though it may take longer and we may not get to a high enough level in time to master the challenges ahead. It's still worth trying, and it's still worth building momentum towards a better public acceptance.

Science is now used as a stick, to beat people with.