The Washington Post had a question: If you took a world-class violinist and had him play for spare change in the D.C. subway, would anyone recognize the genius? Would people stop and listen? How much money would he make?
This fascinating article answers these questions and contains some remarkable insights about beauty, context, children and gratitude.
The speculation during the planning of the experiment:
In preparing for this event, editors at The Post Magazine discussed how to deal with likely outcomes. The most widely held assumption was that there could well be a problem with crowd control: In a demographic as sophisticated as Washington, the thinking went, several people would surely recognize Bell. Nervous "what-if" scenarios abounded. As people gathered, what if others stopped just to see what the attraction was? Word would spread through the crowd. Cameras would flash. More people flock to the scene; rush-hour pedestrian traffic backs up; tempers flare; the National Guard is called; tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.
Did these concerns prove justified? Read the article and find out.
(HT: Kottke)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5 comments:
Hey Nate,
That article actually just came out right before Easter which was incredibly fitting. And its great as well, because there are always musicians at the top of the metro...just not that good :)
Very cool article, Nate...almost as intriguing as the stuff you write!
How's it going? I'd like to tag along on one of your adventures in jurisprudence before the semester ends, if that's possible...
Justin
Nate, i would like to get together with you some time and talk about law school.
Brad~
BradmMills -at- Gmail.com
Nate. Words fail me. The implications of that article are terrifying. What happens when beauty becomes the bastard stepchild of nation...
wow...that's all I can say. We should chat about this sometime.
I think the best answer I can come up with is that we (as a culture) have over-indulged on the trivial. We consume whatever makes us feel good; only the affections we feel for a moment leave our souls empty and more shriveled than before. The fact that 1,070 people walked briskly past beauty in a 45 minute span is merely a symptom of a much deeper disease.
Post a Comment