This is a Gene Weingarten piece. Weingarten is an absurdly brilliant feature writer (this article won a Pulitzer, for whatever that's worth), and pretty funny in his humorous pieces too. I don't think this is his best work; my favorites of his are:<p>The Great Zucchini, about a birthday clown<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011801434_pf.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01...</a><p>Fatal Distraction, about parents locking their kids in cars --- this article is hard to take, and simply an awesome piece of writing:<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02...</a><p>The first time Weingarten got posted here I spent a couple hours tracking down as much of his writing as I could find, and ended up happy I did. Very much worth your time (or worth stuffing into your Instapaper account).
This story is popular for the same reason as Dunning–Kruger. People cite D-K because everyone acts as certain as them and it's frustrating. If we're all equally certain, what makes me different from you? D-K gives the answer you want to hear--the other people are mistakenly confident in their abilities, unlike you.<p>If you look at the numbers and graphs for D-K, the actual conclusion is that everyone thinks they're in about the 70th percentile (with some minor variation) regardless of their ability, a non-conclusion. That is, however, not the interpretation we want to be true, so we continue to perpetuate the more specious analysis that skilled people know their ability level and unskilled do not, when really it is just a side effect of everyone rating themselves in the 70th percentile and some people inevitably landing at that same skill level.<p>Here's an essay that puts the same reversal in perspective for the Bell story: <a href="http://essays.dayah.com/face-the-music" rel="nofollow">http://essays.dayah.com/face-the-music</a>. It argues we love to promote and repeat this story because it proves that _we_ could be unacknowledged geniuses. In our retelling of the Bell story, we are not referencing the masses that walk by rather than listen, we're pointing out that others walk by us.
I remember that. I thought it was pretty contrived. During the morning rush, people really don't want to be late for work. I'm not sure that was a thesis that needed proving.<p>He'd have had a huge crowd during lunch hour.
I think it was fantastic. The allusion is funny too. I have a very unpretentious little art gallery, and pottery shop. After being in the business for about ten years, I have come to realize that very few people will buy for just the beauty, they need validation that others find value in the object.
Second eli's comment that the experiment was contrived. Also the irony of this whole article and experiment is that it begins with the assumption that bell gave a performance in the subway that was great and should have been arresting to passers-by.<p>The article <i>starts</i> from the assumption that his performance was good (I'll just be contrarian and say I don't think it was) based on his celebrity, and then goes on to conclude that the people <i>who were actually there</i> are a bunch of fools.<p>Maybe they all thought "that Bell's such a prima donna, I'm just gonna ignore him"