Experiencing things you haven't experienced before makes you see things differently. That's how it should be. It doesn't mean you go round fearful of the world, or hung up on the events.

For most of the terrible things that happen in the world, we learn about them by proxy, we only experience them vicariously. But September 11 in a real sense wasn't like that - TV meant that we witnessed it as it was happening, as it unfolded that morning.

If experience just washes off and leaves no mark, and no learning is involved, to me that seems a pity. If in fact it ever actually does happen like that, which I am inclined to doubt.