Metal means you're smart....

This explains why I listened to so much Tool and Slayer in the day

Except that Tool isn't metal and I was surrounded by other incredibly smart people. I was in an IB school. Maybe I knew that intelligence and common sense weren't the same things at that age. Maybe I knew they were fools and I had a different path. Or maybe I just hated everything and wanted a way out. But this explanation sounds much better.