People blush when one of their core truths is revealed.

What about my rights? What about a person's privacy? Did all that just go to hell after 9/11?

The roots of any evil deed can be traced to the perpetrator's refusal to experience pain.

The good guys had to operate on a higher level than the killers--just for society to keep track of who was who.

Sometimes when you push someone, you find out who that person really is.

...the horrific fact that our lives and those of the people we love are impermanent and exquisitely fragile, that any of us can cease to exist without warning, that loving anyone, anywhere, at any time, leaves you infinitely vulnerable at every single moment. (20)

When people can do something simple to avoid conflict--say, hit a button or unlock a latch--they'll generally do it.