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We came across this last night: “I remember when a couple of lemmings were caught making for the side of the ship – they said they wanted to end it once and for all, they couldn’t bear the suspense …” (Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters)
The myth of lemming suicide has been perpetuated by the 1958 Academy Award winning Disney documentary White Wilderness. Click here if you want to see a clip. Don’t click if you don’t want to see furry rodents jumping off a cliff, with really dramatic music and voiceover.
“Due to their association with this odd behaviour, lemming suicide is a frequently-used metaphor in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion.” (Wikipedia) In fact, it’s a myth, and these lemming deaths are casualties of migration, just like the tearjerker moments in March of the Penguins.
Why on earth did I just look all this up? Shawn made some quip about a bunch of people behaving like lemmings yesterday. I was wondering what that meant, and it led to all this. Conclusion: I still don’t like rodents.
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