James McGirk, writing in 3quarksdaily, repeats the widely stated claim that the Insane Clown Posse display inexcusable ignorance when they claim, in their song ‘Miracles’, to be mystified by magnets.
One line in particular snagged the world’s attention: “Water, fire, air and dirt, Fucking magnets, how do they work?” Magnetism being a staple of primary school science education, the line struck many casual listeners as spectacularly ignorant.
The explanation of magnetism is definitely NOT a “staple of primary school science education” and the widespread disdain for that line in the song shows greater ignorance than the line itself.
In fact, when one commenter on the youTube site asserts that “33,316 people know how magnets work scientifically” (which would be about five people in a million worldwide), that actually sounds about right.
I would venture to suggest also that, of those of us that do understand how magnets work, most consider it a miracle only slightly less astounding than the fact that we can actually understand it.