I want to share one of the most interesting articles I’ve read in a long time. The article had this question: how would Washington D.C. rush hour commuters react to a really good street performer? I mean, a really, really good performer like Joshua Bell, one of the world’s greatest violinists. Instead of playing in front of well-dressed classical music ticketholders, how would Bell do on a lesser-know music venue…how about the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station?
One of things that grabbed me about this article was that I have a Joshua Bell album on my iPod and he’s amazing. It made me wonder if I would have taken time out of my commute to listen to him playing a multi-million dollar Stradivarius violin.
There is a interesting section on how the human mind values things in context, so there is some science in this article. However, that’s just one section: the whole article is fascinating.
Here’s the link to the article and some hidden camera video of the subway performance: “Pearls Before Breakfast” by Washington Post staff writer Gene Weingarten.
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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew
