Posthuman Blues

I just read some disturbing news. It turns out that if the Authorities detect a global-killer asteroid heading our way, and there's absolutely no way of averting it, then the populace will be kept in blissful ignorance. The reasoning is that there will be nothing that anyone can do, so we might as well avoid mass panic. I can't help but feel strangely cheated. If there's a big chunk of rock about to collide with Earth and exterminate all life except for some nanobacteria, I want everyone to know. I want to see some panic in the streets. I want looting, screaming, mass suicides, rampant craziness. Religious goofballs waiting to be "saved." Stupified suburbanites hoarding groceries. That sort of thing. The public has a right to know.