I love metal. I listen to it throughout most of my day via Sirius Satellite Radio‘s Liquid Metal station. Every once in a while, they will host artists in the studio to interview them, especially if the artists are approaching a CD release date. Today, a couple member of Fear Factory were there promoting their new album, Mechanize, that will be released next week. Liquid Metal has been playing a few tracks from the album lately, and they all sound pretty awesome. I am glad that Fear Factory is back doing what they do best. Unfortunately what they do best is creating metal and not thinking.

One of their new songs is unambiguously titled, “Controlled Demolition”.  Burton C. Bell, of Fear Factory, introduced the song with the following statement:  “This is a song about how a certain destruction in our world of the last decade may or may not have been a controlled demolition. It is up to you what you believe. ” Upon hearing this, I immediately felt nerd rage begin to overload my intellectual abilities as I thrust my headphones away from my face. All I wanted to do was reach through the radio and educate him in hopes that his ignorance could be cured.

I completely understand the reason for political differences, and I know that Fear Factory is liberally minded when it comes to politics. Political differences arise due to the opposing philosophical ideals that fuel them. This is why we will forever have the conservative and liberal paradigms. I could have easily listened to the song if it was promoting a political view opposite that of my own, but one thing I cannot stomach is willful ignorance.

I find it baffling that in spite of all the scientific evidence levied against the 9-11 controlled demolition conspiracy that people still believe it. Have we really become that scientifically illiterate as a nation? What really disturbed me about the band member’s comment on it was when he used the word ‘believe’. How can you ‘believe’ or not ‘believe’ in scientific facts?

Can I choose whether or not to believe in the ‘conspiracy of gravity’? If I plug up my ears and decry the notion of gravity as only a government conspiracy, does that make it any less true? If someone went around screaming about how gravity was only a government conspiracy, we would gently take that person to a nice group of doctors dressed in sterile, white coats. So, how are 9-11 conspiracy supporters any different? Their conspiracies have been scientifically proved false many, many times, but sadly enough, they remain willfully ignorant.

I realize that science is hard, but we must regain our focus as a nation on math and science to prevent this from becoming the norm. Ignorance spreads like a virus.

My new slogan: “Science is hard, so if you don’t understand it, keep your mouth shut until you do. “

Technorati Tags     ,,,,,,