For the public, the main question that seismologists should ask themselves is, "Can earthquakes be predicted?". Nature's earthquake prediction debate follows this simple line of inquiry, although presented in a slightly more subtle form by Ian Main: "How accurately and reliably can we predict earthquakes, and how far can we go in investigating the degree of predictability that might exist?" This is still, however, a question formulated under social pressure. I argue that this question should be left to one side by scientists to allow progress in a more general and comprehensive framework, by studying the whole set of crustal instabilities — or 'transients' — and not only earthquake precursors.