We see no more than we expect to see. That is nothing new. Our stereotyped notions block our clear vision and crowd out imagination. Funny enough, this happens without any alarms sounding, so we never realize it is occurring. And that’s a pity, because I am sure we can do much better. In other words, see more.

I found a story which illustrates how it works. Some time ago a man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin.  It was a cold morning. He played Bach pieces for about more that a half an hour.  During that time, since it was rush hour, more than thousands of people went through the station.

The first person who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. Actually, this action was repeated by several other children and one person who knew Joshua.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.  No one applauded. And, no one knew that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world.  He played one of the most difficult pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment. Because he was playing in a subway station, people assumed he was a street musician playing for handouts and paid no attention to his music. They only saw and heard what they expected to see and hear from a street musician. (See more on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZeSZFYCNRw)

It appears that only the open minded kids who reacted, had the awareness they were listening to special music. With my third version of “Nosybirds Perspective”, I like to illustrate “open mind”. Finally, to see (and hear) more beautiful and unexpected things around us.