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The Sad Truth
Topic Started: Jan 26 2012, 04:04 PM (115 Views)
Ragana Jan 26 2012, 04:04 PM Post #1
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Kwisatz Haderach
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 "In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-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 the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

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 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, 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 as we rush through life?"


Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc

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"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you- stand, Men of the West! "
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skyofthestorm Jan 26 2012, 04:25 PM Post #2
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[ * * * * ]
 Interesting experiment. I play 2 instruments but I probably wouldn't have known the difference either, Violin's are hard to tell advanced players from intermediate (and beginners, well... bring on the ear muffs).
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OceanOfVitaminC Jan 27 2012, 09:07 AM Post #3
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[ * * ]
 Thats crazy.
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Go Irish Jan 27 2012, 11:06 AM Post #4
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[ * * * * ]
 In college I clerked at a law firm in downtown Chicago. I would often have to go from Michigan and Randolph to the Richard J. Daley center that was 4 blocks away. During the summer I would walk street side and during the winter, I would walk during this underground passage that connects buildings in the area to the train system. If you have never been down there, the place smells like piss and there are pan handlers everywhere and people playing music, looking for handouts. I was usually pretty tight on time or doing something time sensative with having to have documents filed at a set time. So I would often push past and not pay attention to what was around me. I once was in a hurry, bumped into someone and knocked them over, I helped them up. Started to walk away when I realized, I just put George Clooney on his ass.
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BlackHand Feb 3 2012, 05:53 PM Post #5
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 yay for humans, how did we even got this far lol
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