So why can't aviation have similarly strict attitudes towards safety?
I found that aviation has an attitude toward safety that most other endeavours should emulate. Hmmm. You assume the answer in your question, which appears to be asked in ignorance of how professional aviation works.
Is it because professional pilots quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) fancy themselves as skygods who will launch when all others fear to draw back the curtains?
Huh? Professional pilots tend not to have that attitude.
Yes, sometimes **** happens (I've been there in IMC but I lived to tell the tale) but why can't an industry avoid trying to get into it in the first place as it's SOP?
I am unaware of any aviation policy that condones flying into IMC deliberately when one intends to fly VMC. Are you able to cite such a policy from anyone in the industry?
Where did you come up with this question?