Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe Says Social Media Helps People Ignore Facts
Lamb of God's Randy Blythe recently opined that social media is assisting in fostering ignorance, the heavy metal musician speaking to the rise of "alternative facts" and an apparent decline in objectivity.
He said social media helps us ignore the facts.
The Lamb of God vocalist conveyed as much on a new episode of Sing for Science, a podcast that puts musicians and scientists together for probing discussions. On Jan. 17, Blythe appeared on the show alongside social psychologist Dr. Tony Lemieux to talk about the social media problem as well as identity politics, intergroup conflict in America, pathways to radicalization, mob psychology and more.
Listen to the episode near the bottom of this post.
"Everyone's interpretation of reality is subjective," Blythe said. "But there is an objective reality. And that appears to have been thrown out the window."
The Lamb of God frontman continued, "I think when people are presented with facts that go against the system of beliefs they've constructed around this identity around their political beliefs, they don't stop and go, 'Hmm, maybe I'm wrong.' I think they experience extreme cognitive dissonance. And the way that they deal with that is just to ignore the facts."
He added, "We've seen that a lot lately: 'That didn't happen,' 'I never said that.' Blah, blah, blah. It's like, yes — you did. These are easily provable things. Veracity is important; it does exist. But lately, it seems to have been thrown out the window. And I certainly think social media has helped push that forward."
Such behavior has manifested in science denial, Blythe argued, especially in a global health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic that's seen a significant anti-vaccine movement emerge.
"One thing we've seen with the coronavirus pandemic that has been problematic is that because the science on this is new and it's imperfect, and science is a process, it grows," the vocalist said. "When you get additional knowledge, additional data to analyze, you gain more understanding."
But Blythe cautioned, "Science doesn't have all the answers at all times — it's a process. That being said, I never thought I'd see the demonization of science that I'm seeing right now."
The Lamb of God vocalist often talks on important but controversial topics. In the past, he's underscored mask wearing, spoke to the removal of Confederate U.S. monuments and urged people not to cast judgement so quickly.
Lamb of God's latest, their self-titled eighth album, arrived last year. It features singles such as "Ghost Shaped People" and "Memento Mori." The band played the 2021 Metal Tour of the Year, and they'll head back out with the package later in 2022.