I remember that day. I remember January 28, 1986 because it was one of those moments in time that you can’t forget. I was a junior at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. I was sitting in my AP History class when a student burst in and said that the Challenger had exploded. We thought that he was kidding but soon learned that he was not.
The networks ran the video footage of the explosion all day long. It was a moment that showed glimpses of a future when instant information would flood all sources of news and information with endless amounts of noise. That is one of the challenges of today, finding an effective way to sift through the noise so that we can determine what is significant and what is not.
Past posts:
The Challenger- Astronauts May have Lived Longer Than We Thought
I was sitting in study hall when one of my friends came in and told everyone… then got in trouble for talking. Given the over-the-top news coverage we have today, word of mouth news seems surreal. A sad day nonetheless.
Word of mouth almost seems quaint, unless of course you count Twitter as being Word of Mouth on steroids.
I was in first year Econ at college and our prof announced it. I was shocked. Still remember that moment vividly.
I can’t call it a defining moment, but I can say that it was significant. It is burned inside my head.
Hey Jack,
Good post, was thinking about the Challenger today as well. I was a senior at Bronx Science in NY – we were science geeks so very into the shuttle. I was in gym when we found out – everyone thought it was a joke at first. Just a very strange moment, none of us knew what to do.
On you point of sifting through the noise of information – when you figure that out, let me know! Twitter will drive you insane, always feels like you are missing something and everything is equal. The useless tweet about someones shoes has the same space on my screen as a tweet about the issues in Egypt. Just a weird information overload system!
I remember that feeling of it not being real. It seemed impossible and far more probable that it would be a joke.
As for cutting through the noise, well the best solution I have is to close one eye while you read and then you only see half as much. 😉 Lists, make lists and try to use them to focus on the people you think are most interesting/important and then sift through it again from there.
Ah lists – sounds like a good idea. Then of course I need to figure out who to put on that list. Which involves having time to sift through all the noise, which gets me back to the information overload. But, I now have a new plan – I will close one eye, sit on my right hand and hop on my left foot while I create my lists – that should do the trick 🙂
That might work. Lists have been exceptionally helpful to me. It really has made it more manageable.