Good morning folks! I’m writing from the foggy, yet beautiful, Oregon coast as we wrap up our vacation here. I’m up before Mardi and the girls for a little quiet time, and was fortunate enough to read the referenced article. It may take 5 to 10 minutes to read, but it is worth it. Here is an excerpt from the beginning:
The Loss of Beauty
Earlier this year, the Washington Post conducted an unusual social experiment that reveals something disturbing about our culture—something that should concern any person interested in the well being and future of our society and the preservation of the true, the good, and the beautiful.
World class violinist, Joshua Bell, entered the Washington D.C. Metro train station dressed in jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt, and a baseball hat. He then removed his $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius from its case and began to play. He played six pieces representing some of the most extraordinary works of Classical music for the next 43 minutes as rush-hour commuters passed by on their way to work. The objective was to “assess the priorities, perception, and taste of the general public” and determine: Could beauty transcend the manic pace and cultural banality of these morning commuters?
Continue reading the article here: The Loss of Beauty
If this type of discussion is interesting to you, I highly recommend Charles Colson’s book, written with Nancy Pearcy, titled How Now Shall We Live;. It is a fantastic read along these same lines of culture clash and Christianity.
Enjoy.
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I would have to disagree with this guy’s premise. Not only do I think we admire beauty as much as ever I think this experiment was flawed. I agree more with the commenter that stated that there could be a few other conclusions drawn. Such as, many people were rushing around because if they didn’t they were going to be late.
Read the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/32a32w. To me it is a much more interesting read.
I do think Americans are falling further and further from there moral underpinnings, but I’m not convinced it has anything to do with loosing our appreciation of beauty. Just because a majority of the people passed by, it was not because they viewed the music as “road kill”. Also, to put beauty in a box and say that there are some universal things that anyone MUST deem beautiful is to put God in one…and I think He is much bigger than that!