The Columbia Accident Investigation Board identified the social phenomenon of “culture” as a key causative factor in the disaster.

Ethically, this conclusion seems to infer that the social organization has its own ethical responsibility separate and different from individual personalistic ethical responsibility. Ask the class to offer possible examples from the news or from their own lives. Discuss whether this social form of ethics/value system can or should override personalistic responsibility. The Nazi program leading to the Holocaust is a ready instance for such discussion. Other instances might be the suppression of knowledge about Takata air bags or the Volkswagen doctoring of engine software to yield false but desirable mileage readings.