Perception, nice read

Discussion in 'Politics' started by cgroupman, Feb 7, 2012.

  1. I posted in chit chat, but since we seem to have so many discussions base on perception, I thought I might post this here as well. Nice read:

    A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

    Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

    A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

    A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

    The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist.

    Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

    In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

    No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the top musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

    Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

    This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station

    was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty?

    Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

    One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?


    Maybe you guys have already seen it?



    c
     
  2. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    I'm getting misty just thinking about it.
     
  3. Ah, come on, not even a little bit interesting?

    Playing a $3.5 million violin in the subway caught my eye, not the smartest thing to do.


    c
     
  4. Brass

    Brass

    Why do you think Lucrum was misty? Or moist. Or whatever. He wishes he had been there at the time in his running shoes.
     
  5. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    No not too smart.
    I doubt I would have paid attention had I been there either. Not because he was posing as a bum. But because a fiddle player is a fiddle player to me.
    :D
     
  6. Fair enough. Would have stayed for Charlie Daniels maybe?


    No 'c' this time.
     
  7. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Hmm, probably not. For whatever reason I never enjoyed listening to street musicians. I think I view it as they're forcing me to listen to shit I don't want to hear. Or maybe I presume they're just attention whores. Noise polluters maybe?
     
  8. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    And you wonder why so many have you on ignore?
     
  9. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    I thought it was a wonderful story.

    :)
     
  10. Brass

    Brass

    I never said I wondered why. And by all means, be a team player and join the pack.
     
    #10     Feb 7, 2012