Hi folks, and thanks for your responses.

I thought this was the experiment's most interesting finding:

"There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away."

I did think it was very strange though, that the "expert help" they consulted about how much attention and money Bell could hope to draw was an orchestra's music director, who apparently just pulled numbers out of his ass. Why would they expect him to have the slightest idea? Why didn't they find a real busker and ask, "How much do you think an excellent classical violinist could make playing solo at such a place and time?"

Also, I think the article would have benefited from having the Metro rentacops show up and bully him a bit or try to confiscate the violin. That would have made good video.

Removing tongue from cheek... Marion


Marion