2007 年一月的一个普通一天，在华盛顿市区繁忙的地铁站，一位看上去和普通的“街头音乐家”没有什么两样的30 岁出头的小提琴手，在候车室的角落里站着，进行了四十五分钟的演奏。在这四十五分钟里，来来往往的旅客超过一千人，但只有七人驻足观看了他的演奏，27人在他脚下的盒子里扔了零钱, for a total of $32。在这场“免费音乐会”的最后，一位中年妇女停下脚步，惊讶地走上前对演奏者说：“你是Joshua Bell!! 我看过你的演出！”
栀子花： 谁说不是呢？本来就想以“以貌取人，还是有眼无珠”作为题目，但觉得这个“stop and listen to the music" 的题目更符合最近几天的一些话题，才改过来了。其实，价值取向本身就可以是盲目的，因为人是很容易被表象所迷惑的。加上其他的环境因素，做出错误的判断就是很自然的了。无庸讳言，能在卡内基演出的音乐人，肯定不会差，但是不是都是那么高水准，其实也难说；一个人做到了那个地位，他无论做什么，别人都会做出好的评价。盛名之下，其实难符的事情，太多太多了。
We have had some discussions about this story among colleagues at workplace after it was reported; one issue is why innocent children can notice to and be attracted by the beauty of music; it seems that value attribution could be further differentiated between generically inherited and socially learned/constructed, or something else?
Here is the cross-reference for the story and related life advice.
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.
The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes - a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule. 4 minutes later - the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. 6 minutes later - a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. 10 minutes later - 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 all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly. 45 minutes later - 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. 1 hour later - the musician finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
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. Just two days earlier, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell was playing incognito in the metro station, in an experiment that was organized by the 'Washington Post' newspaper as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? 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?
We all need to slow down our pace through life, and look for beautiful things around us!
