الانتحار الجماعي

The lemmings are animals that live in the Arctic and resemble rats, covered with thick fur. When their numbers increase and the lemmings cannot find enough food, one of them is chosen to lead the others to a high, scenic mountainous area near the ocean, where the leader throws itself off the mountain to crash onto the rocks below, followed by the rest of the group. This story about lemmings is a common myth and not a scientific fact. The source of this myth is a documentary produced by Disney in 1958 titled "White Wilderness," where the producers staged the scenes by pushing the animals off a slope using a rotating platform to mislead viewers into thinking they were jumping en masse. In reality, when lemmings experience a significant population increase, groups of them migrate in search of food, and during these migrations, some may fall off cliffs or end up in the water and drown unintentionally because they do not swim well for long distances. This is not a planned suicide but rather an accident during a dangerous journey. Although the story of the lemmings' mass suicide is a myth, it has become a powerful metaphor in literature and social psychology to describe the phenomenon of individuals blindly following leaders or ideas that may lead them to their destruction, known as self-destructive behavior. The true model of destructive behavior can be seen in the black widow spider, where the male presents itself as a victim for the sake of reproduction.

In fact, humans have learned a great deal from animals, not only through simple observation but through a whole science called "bionics" or "biomimicry," which studies the application of designs and solutions from nature in technology and engineering to solve human problems. Humans have learned about adhesives (from Gecko Feet), flight (from birds and insects), sonar/sound waves (from dolphins and bats), and the design of swimsuits to reduce water resistance. They took inspiration from the skin of sharks, which has tiny grooves that reduce drag. Fastskin swimsuits worn by Olympic swimmers were designed based on this structure, helping to break many records.

It is mentioned in the Quran as an example of humans learning from birds: "Then Allah sent a raven searching in the ground to show him how to cover the shame of his brother. He said, 'Oh, woe to me! I was not able to be like this raven, and so I covered the shame of my brother.' And he became of the regretful."

The point is that societies that do not learn from dangers, mistakes, experiences, their surroundings, events, and history will undoubtedly be exposed to destruction and extinction, like the fate of the Native Americans and the demise of most of them. When others bully, there must be a pause and a reassessment. History tells us that neglecting power ends in loss; the reliance on God did not benefit Al-Musta'sim when he abandoned the reasons for strength and dispersed his army, leading to his death and the destruction of the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Thus, the essential conclusion we reach is that the law of survival and progress is one and unchanging: it is the law of learning. Societies that learn from their mistakes, draw inspiration from their surroundings, and seek the truth away from myths and illusions are the only ones capable of avoiding the metaphorical fate of the lemmings and building a destiny that emulates the true successes of lemmings in resilience and migration in search of a better future.