Perception

THE SITUATION

In Washington, DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about
45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about
3 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 4 minutes later:

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

At 6 minutes:

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

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

At 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.

After 1 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 theatre 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?

Enjoy life NOW... it has an expiration date

perception

Quote: MrV

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.

That's a badly conceived experiment. Perception is automatic, but the evaluation of what you perceive is not. If you're focused on something, like getting to work on time, or a business meeting, etc, you can pass by music or other arts and not even notice them.

What if he were playing while you were getting waterboarded? Would you appreciate it then?

What if you were told, "We'll stop waterboarding you if you pay attention to the violin." Cold you do it?

They've done this experiment with wine, too. If tasters know the wine is expensive, they will perceive it with more "quality" and use better taste descriptors. Without the price cues, they can't tell a difference.

It's not always perception.


Sometimes, it's taste.

If I were passing by, was told that the musician was one of the finest in the world, doing an impromptu gig, I *might* be persuaded to listen for a minute or two.

Then again, I'm not a fan of classical music, or violins.


Sometimes, it's the venue.

If, instead, it was a musician whom I recognized, playing music I enjoy, then I'd stop - for a little longer.


Sometimes, it's the timing.

Often, plans cannot be radically changed without warning.



Bottom line, I'm not gonna stand around, in a subway tunnel, for any length of time, no matter what the situation is.

And sometimes, it's priority and appropriateness. Yessiree, Dave.

People in transit generally have an overriding priority - to get where they need to be.
People step into a subway station to get to where they need to be, and all too often get too much of a show in the process in any case.

Quote: teddys

They've done this experiment with wine, too. If tasters know the wine is expensive, they will perceive it with more "quality" and better taste descriptors. Without the price cues, they can't tell a difference.

That's better, as they were experienced people and focused on the task at hand

Quote: MrV

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

I think this is the most interesting part of the experiment. Children seemed to be the only ones to recognize the surprising and sublime beauty hidden to the eyes of adults preoccupied with the world and all its trappings. What is it about us that when we "grow up" we stop seeing the wonder of the world around us? Maybe its because we think we are 'smarter' and more 'educated', famous musicians aren't supposed to play in subways, it doesn't match with our perceptions of reality so we block it out. It makes me wonder what else we are missing because we have our own perceptions of what to expect from this world. Kids expect to see wonderful things, we expect to see the normal insignificant daily grind and each sees what they expect.

If the metro DC subway was filled with commuters that would pay $100 person seat to hear Joshua Bell play the violin, then I think you would get a different result. Chances are that finding enough people to sell out a Joshua Bell concert is rather difficult. Finding one in the subway, even more-so. Bad experiment!

Quote: MrV

The man collected a total of $32.

$32 bucks in 45 minutes? That's $42.67/hour. Works out to about $82,000 per year. I think that's a pretty good wage.

Quote: FrGamble

Children seemed to be the only ones to recognize the surprising and sublime beauty hidden to the eyes of adults preoccupied with the world and all its trappings. What is it about us that when we "grow up" we stop seeing the wonder of the world around us?

You're making too much out of it. Children are more curious about things than adults because they are more ignorant than adults. That's all there is to it. A man playing the violin would be a strange thing for a child to see, so she'd find it interesting and would want to see more. But the same could be said for putting a clown making balloon animals int eh subway. Cute, and it takes manual ability, but it's not sublime beauty in any sense.

To be sure, child-like curiosity should be encouraged. But I understand a hurried parent not being able to stop to stare at the homeless guy playing the fiddle in a subway station. instead they should take their children to museums, zoos, parks, concerts, etc. Let the kids get to know the world, to learn about it, and to find out what they like.

Quote: Ayecarumba

$32 bucks in 45 minutes? That's $42.67/hour. Works out to about $82,000 per year. I think that's a pretty good wage.

And that's why you see struggling musicians in the subway and other public places all the time. It's a great was to make a nice living - tax free - while doing something you love.

Quote: MrV

During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. perception

I think most people try to get to work on time. People who don't
may not have a job to go to after a while.

Quote: Nareed

You're making too much out of it. Children are more curious about things than adults because they are more ignorant than adults. That's all there is to it. A man playing the violin would be a strange thing for a child to see, so she'd find it interesting and would want to see more. But the same could be said for putting a clown making balloon animals int eh subway. Cute, and it takes manual ability, but it's not sublime beauty in any sense.

To be sure, child-like curiosity should be encouraged. But I understand a hurried parent not being able to stop to stare at the homeless guy playing the fiddle in a subway station. instead they should take their children to museums, zoos, parks, concerts, etc. Let the kids get to know the world, to learn about it, and to find out what they like.

Gotta go with Nareed on this one. It could have been a second year sax student stoned out on Seconals and the kid would stop and look and listen.

The interesting thing about this is that arguably the world's BEST music was being played by the world's BEST violinist on the world's BEST violin ... and nobody noticed.

Compare the inability to notice this form of "beauty" to our ability to be stopped in our tracks, no matter where we are, by a stunningly beautiful woman.

It's got to be more than we only notice beauty when we are in the mood, or predisposed to doing so.

Both are examples of "beauty;" is it really only sex?

Quote: MrV

Compare the inability to notice this form of "beauty" to our ability to be stopped in our tracks, no matter where we are, by a stunningly beautiful woman.

If the violinist were performing naked or nearly so, people would have noticed and remembered the experience, even if unfavorably.

If the world's most beautiful woman (provided you could identify her) were to appear in a subway tunnel dressed as plainly as the musician and performing some task equally plain (reading a book?), then I suspect most everyone would likely rush on by on their way to work, hardly giving her notice at all.

Similar problems about simplistic "psychological perception" include making too much fuss over the world's greatest so-and-so; or any fuss at all over the plain, petty or gaudy.

At the least, each of us can seek out real empowerment, regardless of how others (want to) perceive it. At the most, we can find out what is real, by just stopping to figure it out bit by bit... in as few words as possible. We have only a lifetime, after all.

some good points being made. I would add:

*the experiment conceded that people would be expected to find it inconvenient to stop.

* "some of the most elegant music ever written"? Actually, I think the piece chosen was a bit long-haired & unfamiliar [always off-putting in classical music to most people]

*I wouldnt be surprised if the violin was not as advertised. At least if I was the insurance company and hadn't been notified, I would have a fit seeing there was no security for the $3.5 mill instrument. Perhaps a special premium was paid this one time?

Interesting, though.

Quote: odiousgambit

*I wouldnt be surprised if the violin was not as advertised.

Insurance aside, I dont think the average person can tell the difference between a regular violin and the best instrument Stradivarius made on his best day; I mean as far as sound is concerned. The average person probably can't even tell the difference between a regular fiddler and a virtuoso.

Quote: teddys

They've done this experiment with wine, too. If tasters know the wine is expensive, they will perceive it with more "quality" and use better taste descriptors. Without the price cues, they can't tell a difference.

I think this is a key factor here. The violinist was performing in a busy public area, where street musicians can commonly be found. Since people are so used to seeing something like this on a daily basis, their expectation colors their perception of the event greatly. If you paid $100 for a seat and were expecting to hear a world-class musician perform, you would of course have a different experience than momentarily passing by what appears to be another anonymous street performer. If you're handed a bottle of wine with no label and the context of the situation doesn't imply quality, then you may drink a fine vintage without realizing it—your expectation has influenced your perception.

This is the same reason that children seemed more willing to stop. Like others pointed out, children are naturally more curious, and that's a direct function of their lack of experience. If children knew that street musicians were commonplace at metro stations and were used to seeing them every day, they would probably have passed the violinist by just the same.

So I guess my point is that the take-away from this scenario is not necessarily the cutesy, chain email ending; more likely, it's that past experiences influence perception—nothing new, and not necessarily a negative, either. Hopefully my response isn't too cynical—I did really enjoy the premise of this experiment when I originally read about it a few years ago.

Steve Wynn always bangs on about getting an emotional response, and manufacturing one, so that the spectacle itself is more than the item you are watching.

Does the fare at the Wynn's four star steakhouse taste that much better than the one at Binion's? Is the service that much better that it deserves a $54 tip (18% of a $300 bill) vs. the $15 you would leave at Binion's where the wait staff is equally fast, pleasant, and accurate? To me (the flea) perception is the only thing really separating the two.