Something to think about... ( Archived) (26)

Perception


Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician
playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.


4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.


10 minutes:


A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.
The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.

This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent,
without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened
for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their
normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one
applauded, nor was there any recognition.

Findings:

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the
greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Bostonwhere the seats averaged $100.

This is a true 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 people's priorities. The
questions raised: "In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?"
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made....


How many other things are we missing?

OH, wait... I mentioned "THINK"...

OH WOW!! What an inspirational story. Puts thing into perspective. I just wanna slow life down now and notice the little things. Thank you

that is stunningly sad! gosh, what ARE we missing??

funny how the children.. the ones with the free imagination and no preoccupation stopped. i love this thread... good thought provoking stuff

The thing that intrigued me was the children in their naivety had a perception of beauty and where enchanted but through the cynicism this world has created the mothers were suspicious and ignored the joy and beauty that was obscured by the negative aspects of society and without malice subconsciously passed this negativity to the children, socially conditioning them to ignore all nice things prioitising safety and expedience over inocence to enjoy something beautiful

Shame the innocence of youth is stolen by society so young.

That is so true Sassy Well said

Long time ago i attended an outdoor music festival.There was an old drunk with a steel guitar.He ended up going home aith some friends of mine.We stated up late. He would play and sing with anyone who cared to.
His name was Babe Stovall.Later on i learned He was the inspiration for "beaujangles"