As someone born in 1995, I don't have any real emotional connection to the Challenger explosion. It's pretty bizarre to think that children born after the 9/11 attacks will probably feel the same indifference.
If you are an engineer, it would be good to try to learn from this and similar accidents. I.e., noting your lack of emotional connection is beside the point, the question is, what can you take away from what happened?
Of course, it's extremely important. I'm currently listening to the Freakonomics podcast on the Challenger explosion[0]. I was only noting the difference being born a few years apart can make when it comes to significant shared cultural memories.
As someone born well before the 9/11 attacks -- were there any positive consequences to the emotional attachment they provoked in the public? Indifference would obviously have been the correct response. What actually happened was not dissimilar to stabbing yourself in the face because you think a mosquito might have landed on it.
I think every generation has their big events and I think they overlap. For baby boomers, it's the JFK assassination (maybe other things). For Gen X'ers like me, it's the Challenger (and 9/11 I'd argue). For Millennials, it's 9/11.
mturmon|10 years ago
samwiseg|10 years ago
[0]http://freakonomics.com/2015/05/20/failure-is-your-friend-a-...
thaumasiotes|10 years ago
callmeed|10 years ago