I doubt money had anything to do with it-and since most people consider being focused a virtue, i doubt that they would stop anyway. Also people don't trust their own taste unless someone tells them something is good. Poor chap needed a sign with an arrow saying Celebrity Here.
there is a street minstrel in Vancouver-a bit of a relic who sings old protest songs and we gave him a couple of bucks and half an hour of our time one sunday (missing the metro connections meanwhile). it was possible on a Sunday and this guy dug up old obscure but lyrical songs. somebody told us later that he used to perform around town some 30 years ago. nobody else paid any attention to him. Another place i noticed a lot of good older musicians hanging out is Terra Blues in New York. Lots of people there from the 60s and 70s. 2007/4/13, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Rishab, > famous violinist joshua bell played for 45 minutes at a DC metro > station. he earned $32, and less than a dozen out of 1000+ people who > passed by even noticed (though all children who passed tried to stop and > were dragged away by their parents). all on video with a nice washington > post story. > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html A few variations on this experiment would help to answer some unresolved questions: [1] Was he merely testing how long it takes people to shift gears? Would the reaction have been any different had the setting forced people to be more stationary (e.g: the waiting lobby for a transit area)? [2] How much of this was about how we use the reaction of others to assess the worth of something? What would happen if a few viewers were planted in the audience, watching in awe? [3] Would the outcome have been any different if no implicit request for money were made? I'd like to see what would happen if he were standing beside a sign that said: "Free concert. No donations, please!" Cheers, -Jon
