Just over 20 years ago, a psychologist named Arthur Aron discovered that with just four minutes of uninterrupted gazing into another person’s eyes, you can actually feel closer to that person. In other words, looking into someone’s eyes, even if they’re a stranger, can help you humanize them in a way that you might not with just a glance. To bring a modern interpretation to his work, these people decided to create a simple experiment. We live in a time when the refugee crisis has reached critical mass in Europe: Controversial opinions, ignorance, and intolerance are swirling through the ether of the entire continent. With that in mind, the creators of this video wanted to discover if Aron’s experiment could bring Europeans and refugees closer, even if its in some small way. Setting up shop in Berlin — a city with historical ties to the idea of unification and peace — they sat refugees and Europeans across from each other for just four minutes, telling them to stare into each other’s eyes during that time. The results are moving and thought-provoking, and you can see the experiment in action in the video below.
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