I think it's Social Experiment Monday!

Nothing like curious social experiments to make the rest of your week go peachy...

(no? just mine then? ok.)

These two I heard about over the radio and through a chain email (first one I open without immediately deleting in years-- and only because it was sent by my mom and I know she'll probably quiz me on it later).

First: Classical Commotion on the Commute

Exactly this time last year, some university somewhere (useless facts that have no impact on the rest of this story trust me) asked someone to play a violin for 45 minutes at the entrance to one of the metro stations in Washington, DC, during the morning rush hour. Here's what it looked like:



What do you think? Worth a few bucks or a couple of minutes of your time?

Let me tell you, in those 45 mins., 2000+ people passed by this man. Hardly any stopped. And he only collected $32 (is that a lot for a busker, I don't know?).

Well folks turns out, these are the facts:

1. The man playing is Joshua Bell
2. He is a renowned violin superstar
3. Two weeks before this, he played a sold out concert in Boston with tickets at $100 and over
4. The violin he played on is a 1713 Stradivarius, worth $3.5 million (Joshua's own)
5. The piece he played is the most complex musical work ever to be composed & played on a violin.

Huh.

Either the people in Boston have been seriously ripped off. Or the people in DC are seriously lucky.


Second: Stockholm Serenaded by the Subway Staircase

Volkswagon makes cars. That much is true. People buy them, get inside, drive around, and eventually forget to walk. Then they get fat.

This had the VW people deeply troubled. So they put their lovely Swedish heads together and decided that they will create an ingenius device that fight obesity and encourage people to walk! Enter the singing piano staircase.




Apparently this is a classic example of the application of 'fun theory'. Hold up: Fun has been theorized? And applied rigorously? Somehow that seems a little counter-intuitive, no?

Anway, the Swedes- they dug it. In one day the musical staircase changed the minds of 66% of the people who normally would have taken the escalators. (Das Auto!)


So, the next time you're bitching and complaining on the subway, take your earphones out of your ears and follow the music. You could be part of a social experiment. (Or not, in which case put them back on and watch your step.)