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Do lemmings actually commit mass suicide?

I’ve recently joined Lemmy and was reminded of this old fact I used to hear about all the time that lemmings will commit mass suicide by jumping off cliffs when they migrate (lemmings being the namesake of Lemmy, I think?).

Do lemmings actually do this? Because I think it would be funny if a social media software was named after an animal that’s literally known for mass hysteria / mob mentality.

Nihlan ,

Hirr hirr hirr

Zirconium ,

Genocidal Organ Project Itoh. Don’t know how accurate it is

“Yeah, apparently the lemming myth originates from a Disney documentary of all places. Crazy shit, huh? There’s this film that shows all these lemmings leaping off a cliff into a river, where they all drown. But apparently it was all staged. The lemmings had to be flown in from Canada and launched off the cliff using a turntable. The producers of the film even had to pay for the lemmings—they bought them from some Inuits, apparently.”

I had to admit this wasn’t quite what I was expecting by way of a response to my confession about John Paul. But when I thought about it, it was the sort of response I should have expected from Williams.

“So all that stuff about lemmings committing mass suicide as an evolutionary mechanism to regulate their numbers to keep their overall population at a sustainable level—”

“Yeah, bullshit, all of it,” Williams said. “Apparently, that’s not how evolution really works. It ain’t all about survival of the species at all costs. It’s the individual that likes to live on, and so it adapts to its environment, and the characteristics that help it adapt become the dominant traits that are passed down to the next generation of the species. Evolution is about what the species can do

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Yes that's an accurate account according to everything I've read on this.

ProfessorFlaw ,
@ProfessorFlaw@kbin.social avatar

No, the documentary that it originatet from (disney) literally pushed them down

ProfessorFlaw ,
@ProfessorFlaw@kbin.social avatar

No, the documentary that it originatet from (disney) literally pushed them down

groel220 ,

Hey, friend! Check out this page for some interesting info! Disney seems to have had a major hand in perpetuating this falsehood. Apparently, per the link,

snopes.com/…/white-wilderness-lemming-suicide/

“It’s a frequent question,” he said “‘Do they really kill themselves?’ No. The answer is unequivocal, no they don’t.”

AlmightySnoo ,
@AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world avatar

We just crashed lemmy.world together so there might be some truth in it.

RealNooshie OP ,

I was wondering why replying was taking 5 minutes instead of 2…

BlushedPotatoPlayers ,

Let’s see… Don’t eat that plant!

RealNooshie OP ,

I ate it. Why do I feel funny?

Rhaedas ,
@Rhaedas@kbin.social avatar

Lemmy got its name inspiration from two places - the rock singer, and the game Lemmings.

As mentioned, Disney set up the poor creatures and made up the whole thing, but I've commented before that if you treat the analogy as Disney being the evil corporate forcing the lemmings into a no win situation, the lemmings chose to leap into the unknown (the Fediverse) rather than put up with corporate crap anymore. So it's not a suicidal thing, but more of a F U I won't do what you tell me thing.

WildlyCanadian ,
@WildlyCanadian@lemmy.ca avatar

Think it makes for an even better analogy, corporations (and the rich) pushing the masses of a cliff (for profit)

Reminds me of the people who blindly follow celebrities and corporations, blindly and unwittingly supporting the inevitable demise of our society, and eventually our planet.

RealNooshie OP ,

So then who are the lemmings in this situation

a_mac_and_con ,
@a_mac_and_con@kbin.social avatar

Myth.

https://www.britannica.com/story/do-lemmings-really-commit-mass-suicide

wurzelgummidge ,

No, they breed too fast and get peshed off the cliff by overcrowding.

Someone told me that, I’ve no idea if it is true

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

They got pushed off a cliff by Disney in the 1950s.

GataZapata ,

No they don't. That was a stunt for a film where they pushed thgrm off a cliff. Will find source and edit it in.

Edit:it was disney, of course. https://www.britannica.com/story/do-lemmings-really-commit-mass-suicide

RealNooshie OP ,

What in the world was Disney doing making a nature documentary?? Not surprised, though.

magnetosphere ,
@magnetosphere@kbin.social avatar

What psychopath put this in the script? Did they go on to become a serial killer?

Why did people go along with it? Didn’t anybody say “hey, guys, this is kinda fucked up”?

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

A guy named James R Simon.

It wasn't a spur of the moment decision, either. The lemmings were brought from Manitoba to Alberta and put on turntables and repeatedly thrown off the cliff.

It's super messed up and weird.

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