Decline of Human Perception of Beauty, True or False?

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and began playing the violin on a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, an estimated 1,100 people passed through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes passed, and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing, slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried 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, and walked on.

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

The one who paid more attention was a 3 year old. Her mother rushed, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother shoved her and the child continued to walk turning her head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

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

Nobody knew, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had played only one of the most complex pieces ever written, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at 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 priorities of people. The outlines were: in a common environment to an hour inappropriate: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we have no time 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?

By Josh Nonnenmocher [translated from Spanish from a post on Facebook by Juani Rockxz, 18 Feb 2012]

About the Author

I'm Melanie, the founder of BermudaQuest and an archaeology undergraduate at the University of New Mexico. I love writing about ancient and modern cultures. My goal is to make information about our origins available to everyone [in simple English!]