to quote

“Until their biases were demonstrated to them by the screen, there wasn’t a maestro in the world who thought his ability to judge someone’s musical ability was affected by that person’s gender. In fact, I tell a hilarious story in which the maestro of the Munich Philharmonic listened to someone playing the French horn, shouted out “We want him!” and then, when a woman stepped out from behind the screen, nearly had a heart attack.”

http://www.slate.com/id/2111894/entry/2112067/

A noisy subway is very much like the investment world as well. The noise and distractions make it very difficult to see high quality “bargain” investments.

I’m sure if there were a sign with Bell’s credentials, people would have stopped. But without that hint – the average citizen is incapable of knowing excellence when they see or hear it.