During the 45-minute set, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. Roughly 20 people gave him money, but continued to walk past the acclaimed violinist. He collected $32 in total. When he fi nished playing he packed up his violin and left to no applause or recognition.
Joshua Bell had just played one of the most intricate pieces of music on a violin worth $3.5 million.
Two days before Joshua Bell played in the subway, he had sold out a concert in Boston, where tickets averaged $100.
The Washington Post organised his incognito performance in the subway as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and the priorities of people.
Discuss
The experiment was aimed at addressing the questions below. Work in groups to read these questions and discuss your answers. Voice your group’s opinion or experiences to the class.
1. Can we appreciate beauty in unusual settings? 2. Do we recognise talent in an unexpected context?
3. If we do not stop to listen and appreciate one of the greatest musicians of our time playing one of the most beautiful pieces of music, what else are we potentially missing out on?
4. Why do you think that the person who stopped the longest to appreciate the music was a three-year-old child? What does this tell us about habits in society?
5. Do you think that this was an interesting study to carry out? Investigate
Work in groups to come up with an idea for a social experiment that you can carry out. Perhaps you could try to promote positivity, change the behaviour of people or simply observe if people will notice something out of the ordinary. Carry out your experiment and report your findings to the class.
Create
Write a feature article for your school website encouraging students to appreciate the world around them.
