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Interesting social experiment in DC Metro Station
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Post by
variable303
It's not too often that I read an article that prompts me to stop and evaluate how I live my day-to-day life, but I wanted to share something I just came across. It's a story about a man, his violin, and the numerous people that literally never stopped to appreciate the music. You can find the full story
here
. And here's a TL;DR version from a blog:
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.
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 Boston where 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.
I'd like to think that I'd be one of the (very) few people who did at least stop to appreciate raw talent and beauty, but despite the fact that I grew up listening to classical music (my dad was a semi-professional violinist), it's more likely that I'd just be another one of the masses that walked by. I'm not saying that I'm ashamed of myself, or that the scores of other people that walked by are lesser in any way. It's just that I question how much of the world I'm filtering out due to the context it's placed in, and through my own internal preconceptions and prejudices.
Anyway, the article is rife with subjects that can philosophized upon if that's your thing. I just wanted to share this because I think it promotes a positive form of self reflection.
Post by
xaratherus
That... actually sort of depresses me.
I recognize that's not what you intended. And thank you for sharing, regardless. It motivates me to try and make some sort of positive impact on a world that seems to have lost its sense of wonder.
Post by
buzz3070
Just shows you how fast paced this modern world is and we don't even have a few minutes to stop and listen to the music. Also that people don't appreciate classical instruments and the beautiful music they can produce.
Post by
variable303
Yeah. To be fair though, I don't completely fault the people that walked past. Filtering out the world by context, having preconceptions about things, etc., is necessary to some extent. We obviously can't go around sniffing every flower we see. However, I believe that most of us have gone too far toward the other end of the spectrum.
Moreover, keep in mind that classical music doesn't immediately resonate with the masses, and that many people's ability to recognize greatness, or to appreciate the subtle tonal differences between a cheap violin and a Strad like his will be limited. This is why I'm hesitate to draw a comparison between people walking through a metro station and those who paid $100 bucks to see him in a concert.
Still, makes you think :)
Post by
238331
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
Even if I stopped for a second, I wouldn't have recognized the song probably and I definitely wouldn't have recognized the dude.
Seems like a dumb experiment to me.
I sort of agree with this. Surely, because the weather was bad, and they picked the morning rush hour - hardly anyone had the time for staying there and listening idly.
Post by
ArgentSun
Music - and arts in general - is not something your average person can recognize and appreciate when in its finest. You need a truly fine ear and some training to realize that the guy sitting by the train is a master in its art. And even then, you've seen dozens, if not hundreds of street performers, what's one more?
Even without any of this, there is the issue with our culture. I have a feeling we (usually correctly) associate street performers with beggars. And giving money to a beggar is just not something many of us do frequently. Not that the coffee-worth of cash will change our day - we could lose those money and care less about it. But stopping and acknowledging them, that's an act that somehow associates us with them, and we don't really want that. It's an instinctive thing, I guess - kind of like how if you see somebody slipping in the mud, you wouldn't go and give them a hand to get out of it, because you know they will do it on their own eventually.
TL;DR - we suck as a race. Or maybe just a nation.
Post by
238331
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
variable303
Even if I stopped for a second, I wouldn't have recognized the song probably and I definitely wouldn't have recognized the dude.
Seems like a dumb experiment to me.
I sort of agree with this. Surely, because the weather was bad, and they picked the morning rush hour - hardly anyone had the time for staying there and listening idly.
Well, that was kind of the whole point of the experiment. It raises the question of whether we're able to recognize talent in an inconvenient or unexpected context, and also asks us to question how we process beauty. If we are too busy to recognize or appreciate the what can be considered the pinnacle of talent in this example, it begs the question: How much of the world are we missing out on?
Post by
Patty
Well, that was kind of the whole point of the experiment. It raises the question of whether we're able to recognize talent in an inconvenient or unexpected context, and also asks us to question how we process beauty. If we are too busy to recognize or appreciate the what can be considered the pinnacle of talent in this example, it begs the question: How much of the world are we missing out on?
Again though, that's just our society. Besides, it's not wise to prioritise enjoyment over employment in cases like that, I mean - if you turned up to work an hour late because you sat at the metro listening to someone busking, it's not exactly setting a good standard of yourself to an employer, is it? It's also not a question of appreciating, some people may have enjoyed it, but there's just not enough time in a quicksand society. The answer is, yes, we're missing out on most of the world - but is that really surprising? Not really.
Post by
variable303
Again though, that's just our society. Besides, it's not wise to prioritise enjoyment over employment in cases like that, I mean - if you turned up to work an hour late because you sat at the metro listening to someone busking, it's not exactly setting a good standard of yourself to an employer, is it? It's also not a question of appreciating, some people may have enjoyed it, but there's just not enough time in a quicksand society. The answer is, yes, we're missing out on most of the world - but is that really surprising? Not really.
Of course we have to prioritize employment, and yes, we will undoubtedly miss out on much of the world around us because of it. I mentioned earlier that it wouldn't be realistic to sniff every flower you come across.
The question has more to do with how busy we really are, and whether or not we have time to slow down and absorb the world without sacrificing too much. It's about taking a couple small steps toward the other end of the spectrum, and how much more enriching our lives can potentially be.
In short, out of the thousand or so people that walked by, I'm fairly sure that many of them could have stopped for a couple of minutes without being late to where they were going. They either chose not to due to the context it was placed within, to preconceptions about street performers, or because they simply don't have an ear to recognize good classical music, or a combination of the three.
Post by
324987
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
OverZealous
This is rather sad. Very sad, really. Some of the most complex pieces ever written turned away without thinking for a second. Granted, I, and most of the general population, wouldn't recognize Bach even if I just had two pieces to choose between, but it's ironic how one of the most talented (according to the OP, anyway) is largely ignored and only gains a few dollars, and that purely out of pity.
I can see how priorities come into play here, as you can't be late for work etc. but I do, however, find it hard to believe that all 2000 that passed through the Metro Station were on a tight schedule. That seems rather unlikely.
Even without any of this, there is the issue with our culture. I have a feeling we (usually correctly) associate street performers with beggars. And giving money to a beggar is just not something many of us do frequently. Not that the coffee-worth of cash will change our day - we could lose those money and care less about it. But stopping and acknowledging them, that's an act that somehow associates us with them, and we don't really want that. It's an instinctive thing, I guess - kind of like how if you see somebody slipping in the mud, you wouldn't go and give them a hand to get out of it, because you know they will do it on their own eventually.
This basicly says it; we do not want to associate with street musicians because they are associated with beggars, and you do not, for some reason, want to be associated with beggars.
Post by
Monday
That's pretty depressing. Music - and arts in general - is not something your average person can recognize and appreciate when in its finest. You need a truly fine ear and some training to realize that the guy sitting by the train is a master in its art. And even then, you've seen dozens, if not hundreds of street performers, what's one more?
Even without any of this, there is the issue with our culture. I have a feeling we (usually correctly) associate street performers with beggars. And giving money to a beggar is just not something many of us do frequently. Not that the coffee-worth of cash will change our day - we could lose those money and care less about it. But stopping and acknowledging them, that's an act that somehow associates us with them, and we don't really want that. It's an instinctive thing, I guess - kind of like how if you see somebody slipping in the mud, you wouldn't go and give them a hand to get out of it, because you know they will do it on their own eventually.
TL;DR - we suck as a race. Or maybe just a nation.
I agree with all of this.
Post by
variable303
Sorry, didn't mean to depress so many people. Maybe
this
will cheer you up. I'll admit, I got a bit teary eyed.
Post by
Squishalot
That's all a bit harsh, guys.
a) He's playing music for people who don't want to listen to him. If Lady Gaga were performing incognito at an arcade, I'd probably walk past and ignore her too, because I don't follow her music.
b) It makes obvious sense that people who don't want to listen to him are going to pay him less money than people who made plans and went out of their way to listen to him. Consider that a concert, for any artist, might have 10 big shows across the US, and have 20,000 people at each show (limited by venue size). That's 200,000 people across the country who will pay to hear him/her play, or a bit under 1 in a 1000 people.
The 2000 people who didn't stop to listen? That's the other 299 million people who wouldn't pay to go to the concert.
If a famous chess player was busking as a speed-chess player, I'd ignore him too, because I'm not terribly interested in what he's performing as street entertainment. I don't see what's wrong with that.
Post by
pezz
Art is subjective based on context. People only make a very tenuous connection between technical proficiency and aesthetic value, and most people certainly can't appraise violins just by hearing them for 30 second in a noisy subway.
Famous guy who you don't know is famous busking in subway =/= art.
Famous guy in a monkey suit on an expensive stage when your program informs you that he is revered as a god in countries you aren't able to pronounce = art.
Post by
Bruunpala
Comparing this Joshua's performance as a street artist, to one of the other students of my violin class, I don't find it odd that he doesn't get more attention, even more so because we are talking DC Metro, a properly busy place.
Anyway, the kid I know who is about 8 now, played for 2 hours one day and 3 hours the next, in a small city here in Denmark, this was during his autumm holiday.
He made roughly 600 USD the first day, and another 800 the next. To me this seems incredible, because from my perspective everyone is cold bastards who cares about nothing but themselves. Time and place plays an important factor ofc, which was mentioned in an above post.
Anyway, I got no idea why I'm even putting this here, but idc cuz it's 2:37 and I've been ready for bed for 3 hours... Later.
Post by
341987
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Wonder if he had a busking license? If not, surprised the cops didn't tell him to move his butt along. As for the playing; on a typical day in New York or LA can find dozens of musicians, performers, and others out on the streets working for their living; they make money, and bring some joy to people's lives. The fact that a 'famous' person did this well....meh.
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