The tragedy brings out the best in people. For an instant, human beings act like human beings, not economic units. There is a common grief, a sentiment that rarely finds widespread expression. This is a moment when empathy finds an outlet. Life returns to normal for the rest of us, and the images fade.
Airplanes roar overhead and no one thinks twice about it.
There is a need for elementary empathy and concern for others to be widened, and elevated by a scientific insight into the underlying causes of so much of humanity's distress. That would represent a true leap in consciousness.