Joshua Bell, the acclaimed violinist, stood at the corner of a Washington D.C. metro station during the morning rush hour in street clothes playing his violin. He belted out six of his classic masterpieces with extraordinary finesse. Bell’s performance went virtually unnoticed by the thousand odd rush hour crowd; while only three days earlier, Bell had filled Boston’s Symphony Hall where seats cost upwards of $200. Bell was in the subway station that day as part of an experiment of ‘context and perception’. The experiment revealed that Bell’s obvious artistry and magic was hugely overshadowed by the ordinary circumstances of his appearance, the time and the place.
Every day, genius unfolds in front of our eyes in class rooms, at work, or even in social settings – with no acknowledgment! All because they do not come wrapped in appropriate packages or from established superstars that make them predictable! These perceptions hold us and bind us to a world of mediocrity.
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