This social experiment was conducted at a subway stop in the United States. On a cold January morning in Washington, D.C., a man at the station began playing the violin. He played six pieces of Bach for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, more than a thousand people passed by.
As the “performance” began three minutes later, the first man noticed the musician. He slowed his step, stopped for a second, then quickly hurried off on his own. A minute later, the fiddler got his first dollar. But the woman who threw it wasn’t listening; she hurried past.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. The child stopped and listened to the music with a wince, but the mother dragged the toddler away with her. Other children also behaved. But in all cases, without exception, the parents made them move on.
During the 45 minutes while the musician played, only six people stopped. About 20 threw money. When the man stopped playing, no one noticed or applauded. No one realized, the fiddler on the subway was Joshua Bell. He is one of the most talented musicians in the world. The violin he played cost over $3.5 million, and the music he played was one of the most difficult pieces written by Bach.Interestingly, two days before Bell played on the subway, all tickets to his concert were sold out, costing an average of $100 per ticket.
The “Joshua Bell Playing Incognito on the Underground” project was organized as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities. The task was to determine who could perceive beauty at an inopportune hour. How do we respond to it and what do we do to notice it? Do we recognize talent where we don’t expect to find it? It turns out that children are the most sensitive.