2007年，《华盛顿邮报》专栏作家Gene Weingarten请小提琴家Joshua Bell做了一个实验——

那也是一个星期五，早晨7点多，Bell一身牛仔裤加T-shirt，头戴棒球帽，出现在华盛顿L’Enfant广场地铁站，在自动扶梯口，他倚着墙，旁边放着一只破口袋；然后，他拿出小提琴，开始演奏。在接下来的43分钟，他演奏了5只经典曲目。这期间，1097人从他身边经过，有7个人停下来听了一会儿，只有一个认出了他。他挣了32块1毛7，其中20块还是那个认出他的人给的——Bell是世界闻名的小提琴大师，那天用的小提琴价值300万美元。不过他也挺知足的：一个小时挣40块也好呀，够养活自己了，还不用给经纪人付钱。

实验之前，地铁公司警告他们，到哪儿玩儿都行，可别在我的地盘儿里。邮报的编辑们也担心，偌大个WDC，总有人会认出Bell，如果大家都涌到这儿来看星星咋办呢？他们想象了一堆“what-if”——看Gene的描写：

In a demographic as sophisticated as Washington, the thinking went, several people would surely recognize Bell. Nervous "what-if" scenarios abounded. As people gathered, what if others stopped just to see what the attraction was? Word would spread through the crowd. Cameras would flash. More people flock to the scene; rush-hour pedestrian traffic backs up; tempers flare; the National Guard is called; tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.

很遗憾，这一切都没有发生。认出Bell的那位Furukawa（日本朋友？）很郁闷：我生活的城市怎么会这个样子呢？！

"It was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen in Washington," Furukawa says. "Joshua Bell was standing there playing at rush hour, and people were not stopping, and not even looking, and some were flipping quarters at him! Quarters! I wouldn't do that to anybody. I was thinking, Omigosh, what kind of a city do I live in that this could happen?"

Gene的实验影响很大，他写的报道Pearls Before Breakfast也很成功（http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html），赢得了2008年Pulitzer奖。

实验说明了什么？说明了很多很多……