Heavy metal ‘a comfort for the bright child’
Telegraph.co.uk has confirmed what we’ve known all along:
Intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented, according to research.
…
Researchers found that, far from being a sign of delinquency and poor academic ability, many adolescent “metalheads” are extremely bright and often use the music to help them deal with the stresses and strains of being gifted social outsiders.
The full article in all its glory can be read here.
March 24th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Ech.
“They spoke of listening to bands including System of a Down, Slipknot, Tool, Dragon Force, Forward Russia and In Flames when they were in a bad mood and using it to work off frustrations and anger.”
See, even if we ignore that and take it to mean that six percent of the smart kids in the UK are actually real metalheads, that doesn’t mean anything without something to relate it to. There’s just a correlation between smart kids and metal. We can’t make a judgment about whether listening to metal makes kids smart or being smart makes kids listen to metal.
Additionally, there’s nothing to compare that number too. I mean, six percent seems pretty low to me, considering it’s way-the-hell lower than the other genres of music they mentioned. (Once again, let’s assume we’re talking about actual metal which the article gave hardly an indication of).
In order for that number to mean anything, it needs to be compared to the general population. What if the general population listens to metal more often? Then saying gifted kids listen to heavy metal would be horribly misleading. What if it’s the same? Then it’d be insignificant.
Or perhaps you could compared it to all the social outcast kids. Same sort of deal there. Maybe more not-so-smart kids listen to metal than the smart ones. There could be all kinds of results.
July 21st, 2007 at 8:11 am
A tough subject, I dont think they are more intelligent, but more in key with their right brain functions. The artistic side of things. Composing great music! They can distiguish real music being music is right brain keyed. To me metal is the only real music around. I listen to so much other junk my friends play like, like fallout boy and all these other “alternative, emo, punk” bands and words cannot express how negatively I feel towards the music. But they think its simply the greastest thing ever.
Anyways metal heads are not social outcasts in my eyes, the ones who listen to cannibal corpse maybe! I am more into metal for the instrumentals and lyrics hardly are taken in to me. Perhaps this is why the majority of the population being left brain doesnt like metal? The lyrics in the bands dont appeal to them.
Analyze these things as you will but they cant really be proven. But being in the Army and having several friends who love metal score 70-80 on the ASVAB and my 4 non metal friends score 20-40 it kind of says alot
February 21st, 2008 at 12:55 am
I agree a lot of my metalhead friends are doing really good in theyr classes including me i have a freaking A in geometry…now i think its becuase most of us have our minds straight…i mean if you look at a lot of “preps” they are like sheeps, they just follow and they cant decide or think unless they listen to others
March 4th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I must agree with Sal. I am one of the biggest metal heads even in my area, and i am more down to earth and head straight than most of the dumb asses around here. so please people….if u are gunna rag on a metal head, make sure that they are not beyond your capabilities of thought……LATA
June 26th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Aline…
You always have a choice, even if it is only a choice of your attitude….