[volt-nuts] Way OT [WAS: do you like Labview in your labs?]

[J. Forster]

Charles,

You make a good point. People are busy with their own stuff. I would have
walked right by the guy too. I always got annoyed with panhandlers. Even
remarkable things like in this YouTube link get old very quickly, IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU

FWIW,

-John

==============



> Chuck wrote:
>
>>The famous violinist Joshua Bell, on a dare from Washington Post humorist
>>Gene Wiengarten, stood at the entrance to a busy Metro (subway) station,
>> and
>>played his heart out for a whole day.  Quality playing, and quality
>> pieces
>>of music that concert goers would have payed hundreds of dollars to see
>> at
>>venues all around the world... And only 3 people stopped to listen.  The
>>rest just hustled through ignoring the busker.
>
>>Joshua was rather upset after he finished his dare.  It caused
>>him to rethink his position in the world.  He did not like going
>>from darling of the champagne and caviar set to being ignored
>>by people that would have paid to attend his concerts.
>
> It was 43 minutes during a morning rush hour:
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
>
> At the risk of getting even further off topic, I'll amplify briefly
> on Marvin's response to this.  The answer lies in the psychology of
> solitude in crowds, which is demonstrated nowhere better than among
> mass transit commuters during rush hour.  The commuters weren't "just
> ignoring" Bell, in the sense of not noticing him -- which is how the
> Post interpreted it.  Rather, regardless of how nice, or beautiful,
> or worthwhile his playing was, he was, in the commuters' view,
> intruding into their psychological space and assaulting them -- no
> different from the guy who accosts passersby with construction pail
> percussion, or sermons delivered on a crowded subway platform.  The
> commuters noticed him, alright, and they were doing the most polite
> thing they knew to do when faced with the unwanted intrusion --
> *studiously* ignoring it.
>
> More than a few commuters probably considered a somewhat less polite
> response -- pulling the violin out of his hands and stomping it into
> little pieces -- and I'll wager that at least a third of those
> present would have cheered and clapped if that had happened (perhaps
> only until they learned it had been a Strad).  Time and place....
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles
>
>
>
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