Tool/Puscifer, etc. frontman Maynard James Keenan once famously sang about California (or perhaps metaphorically the ego and entitlement of Hollywood) being claimed by the ocean in an earthquake/flood on Tool‘s “Ænema“. Though obviously an artistic expression, he does seem to think that civilization being pushed to the brink in some unified calamity might actually fix society’s current ails.
Of course with anything Keenan says, there’s often a subtle layer of sarcasm or dark humor lurking underneath. Speaking in a chat with azcentral.com, he was asked if he feels as though the collective intelligence of society has been consistently dropping, he replied:
“I don’t know if you’ve seen that documentary? It’s a pretty intense documentary called “Idiocracy,” which used to be a comedy and now it’s a documentary. And that Nostradamus film called “V is For Vendetta?” I don’t know what’s happening out there. What’s gonna happen next? Is it zombies? I’m ready for anything now.”
When asked if online culture (trolling, etc.) has contributed to our collective drop in intelligence, he offered:
“Yeah, I think maybe just that entitlement, the ability to immediately express an unfounded opinion that’s not based on any kind of data or fact or research. It’s just your opinion. I can see how that can be kind of unnerving. It’s like the darkest version of Yelp. It’s unfortunate. What I think would help is some borderline extinction-level event. I think that would kind of set everything pretty straight.”
He continued
“An extinction level event? Something… something gorgeous. A meteor, a few tidal waves, maybe a rapid Ice Age, something to kind of make you worry more about food, clothing and shelter, rather than tweeting.”
When pointed out that he also himself takes part in social media, he responded:
“If we’re building something, trying to move forward and make progress in some way, whether it’s community, art, cuisine, winemaking, those things. But generally speaking, social media for me is just comedy first, always. If there’s a joke to be told, you’ve gotta retell it.”
For more from Keenan, head to azcentral.com (and no, there are no Tool questions.) You can also catch him out on the road now with Puscifer on this spring tour.
