[ITP] Perception

Sun Oct 10 09:43:28 PDT 2010

You're welcome.  And FYI, this whole thing was sent to me by my  
friend Bill. so I'm just the passer on...

Denise
On Oct 10, 2010, at 10:13 AM, Scott Gassman wrote:

> Thank you for an awesome share.
> Scott
>
> On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 11:05 AM, Denise Tennen  
> <denisetennen at comcast.net> wrote:
> This seems somehow relevant to the discussion about youth leaders.
>
> Notice how many times it says the children noticed the violinist  
> and wanted to linger...
>
> Denise
>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ITP (integral transformative practise as described by philosopher  
>>> Ken Wilbur) works to understand  useful patterns and find ways to  
>>> incite others' interest but there are hurdles involved in  
>>> expanding understanding and awareness (pick your definition).
>>>
>>> Attached is a fascinating piece about lack of perception -- or  
>>> the UN-willingness of anyone to perceive anything that doesn't  
>>> immediately interest them. This is a key problem for ITP'ers for  
>>> it demonstrates a blank area in everyone's responsiveness -- an  
>>> intentional blank region we won't fill in unless we are ready to  
>>> change.
>>>
>>> Even then, if haste intervenes or our interest is focused  
>>> elsewhere, we have little ability to attend to anything new --  
>>> anything truly different from what we think or assume.
>>>
>>> We are happy to reorganize 'facts' into more convenient patterns  
>>> or add new factoids to our beliefs.
>>>
>>> We are happy to believe in magic of various practical sorts --  
>>> but we block anything exceptionally different from our trains of  
>>> thought for, even when we seek new scenery, our 'trains of  
>>> thought' are truly on 'rails'.
>>>
>>> Imagine the new scenery that the microscope and telescope have  
>>> brought us -- but all they reveal is physical. With much of what  
>>> we see, we still have no idea why some of it happens. The  
>>> implications these devices bring offer new areas for speculation  
>>> but, first, we must engage an emotional self if we are to give a  
>>> damn about something outside our frame of reference -- not just  
>>> to expand that frame but to reconstruct it. No one understands  
>>> Relativity or Quantum Mechanics by 'expanding' anything. They are  
>>> different from everything that went before -- so different in  
>>> fact that even those who understand are still mystified.
>>>
>>> Changing perception requires adjusting intent -- even for a moment.
>>>
>>> There is nothing in a view-finder that can do that for us.
>>>
>>> There is nothing we know that can tell us when, how or why to  
>>> engage anything beyond our awareness.
>>>
>>> Beyond our awareness are things we cannot recognize -- for they  
>>> are not in our history.
>>>
>>> We can still have access and many of them are both simple and  
>>> beautiful.
>>>
>>>
>>> Here's the piece:
>>>
>>> . . . Something To Think About . . .
>>>
>>>
>>> THE SITUATION
>>>
>>> In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January  
>>> morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces  
>>> for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000  
>>> people went through the station, most of them on their way to  
>>> work.  After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that  
>>> there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for  
>>> a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
>>>
>>>
>>> About 4 minutes later:
>>>
>>>
>>> The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in  
>>> the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
>>>
>>>
>>> At 6 minutes:
>>>
>>>
>>> A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked  
>>> at his watch and started to walk again.
>>>
>>>
>>> At 10 minutes:
>>>
>>> A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along  
>>> hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but  
>>> the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning  
>>> his head the whole time.  This action was repeated by several  
>>> other children, but every parent - without exception - forced  
>>> their children to move on quickly.
>>>
>>>
>>> At 45 minutes:
>>>
>>>
>>> The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and  
>>> listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to  
>>> walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.
>>>
>>> After 1 hour:
>>>
>>> He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no  
>>> one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.
>>>
>>>  No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the  
>>> greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most  
>>> intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million  
>>> dollars.  Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theatre in  
>>> Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to  
>>> him play the same music.
>>>
>>>
>>> This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C.  
>>> Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a  
>>> social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
>>>
>>> This experiment raised several questions:
>>>
>>>      *In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do  
>>> we perceive beauty?
>>>
>>>      *If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
>>>
>>>      *Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
>>>
>>>
>>> One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
>>>
>>> If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best  
>>> musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever  
>>> written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .
>>>
>>> How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
>>>
>>
>
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>
> -- 
> Scott Gassman
> IdeaJuice
> (917) 951 - 0258
> scott.gassman at gmail.com
> www.ideajuices.com
>
> America Speaks on Scott:  http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cfm? 
> fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=919&nodeID=1
>
>
>
>
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