this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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Man & Mouse (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by liquorice@lemmy.world to c/funny@sh.itjust.works
 
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[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 hours ago

If they were smart enough they would. Keep the competition out of their building. Too many mice running around and the exterminators gets called. One smart mouse and they'll hardly even notice.

But one day they might have tiny little guns

[–] speakupattheback@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Is there anything more pathetic than falsely attributing a banal quotation you like to Albert Einstein so people on the internet take it more seriously.

This one's been doing the rounds for years but there's a bunch

[–] Johanno@feddit.org 7 points 19 hours ago

Always trust random texts with wrong attribution on the Internet.

-- Buddha

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] filcuk@feddit.uk 9 points 1 day ago

Wise man indeed, way ahead his time apparently

[–] Dagamant@lemmy.world 89 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have seen mice eat each other alive. I’m 100% sure they would build a mousetrap

[–] lepthesr@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm pretty sure they just do when starved? Maybe a target opportunity if it's dead, but I'm curious how you've seen this?

[–] Dagamant@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)

An alternative view point : https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n13/jon-day/the-beautiful-ones

The accuracy of Calhoun’s observations about rat sociology, still less their relevance to human society, remains a matter of debate. Even at the time he was criticised for the methodologies of his experiments (one colleague at NIMH told him that ‘there are so many variables in your research that you can’t possibly draw any conclusions about anything’).

Many of the behaviours he considered ‘aberrant’ – cannibalism, aggression, homosexual mating – are not uncommon in rodent society. As both books acknowledge, his experiments have never been successfully replicated by other researchers, and wild colonies of rats don’t seem to display any of the personality types he so vividly described. He rarely published in mainstream scientific journals, saying that his concerns were so pressing that he didn’t have time to wait for peer review.

It seems plausible that Calhoun was responsible for creating the conditions for population collapse. He only cleaned out Universe 25 every six to eight weeks; disease and parasitism could account for many of the phenomena he thought were due to mere proximity. It can’t have helped that, other than the ladders and ramps, the Universes didn’t provide much in the way of stimulation. Calhoun thought of his rat cities as utopias, but they seem more like well-stocked prisons. No wonder they didn’t bring out the best in the inmates.

I generally raise eye brows any time the dangers of overpopulation come up, as it always a concern of eugenicists. These sorts of research studies are constantly looking for data that confirms beliefs they already held, and they never want to look any further in what the root causes are. The foregone conclusion is always demanding population control, followed with the healthy dose of "I'm just asking questions!".

[–] CPMSP@midwest.social 2 points 1 day ago

That's some powerful shit

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

I didn't know about this, fascinating

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Keep pet mice for long enough and you'll witness cannibalism.

[–] lepthesr@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No, they just do that. Mice are jerks.

[–] StillAlive@piefed.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

What did Disney do?

[–] jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 67 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The quote actually originated from a German aphorist named Werner Mitsch (1936–2009).

[–] Redjard@reddthat.com 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

People would do that? Go on the internet and tell lies?
- Albert Einstein

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 17 hours ago

"Everything you see on the Internet is true, take everything seriously, and get into fights with strangers"

  • Albert Einstein
[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I read it on the internet. Therefore its true.

[–] notsure@fedia.io 17 points 1 day ago

I appreciate your diligence.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People in the past got much better job titles than us.

"If you're self-employed, you can assign yourself any job title you want."

- Fakeman Pretendname, Double-Emperor

[–] Magnum@infosec.pub 5 points 1 day ago

I can confirm this, I was the singular stone Albert always carried around.

[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

Only because they can't.

I've kept mice, they would absolutely build a mouse trap if they could. They are cold, vicious little jerks.

[–] peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

We confirmed this quote? I dont wanna be a dick, but I am a dick. Just asking.

[–] AxisExperience9@sh.itjust.works 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Let's normalize categorizing this sort of behavior as non-dickish. Now, more than ever, and especially on the internet, we should be questioning everything we see. We must stop passively ingesting everything we see on the internet as fact. So good on you for questioning.

edit: grammar

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I did, it's 100% true. He wrote it in his diary it in 1953 after attending the original Barbenhainer screenings.

[–] Shady_Shiroe@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I hate time travelers constantly messing with time and getting to see movie before we do, they probably already played GTA 6 too.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2 points 1 day ago

Noooo, it was the original 1953 Barbie and Oppenheimer movies, not the 2023 remakes.

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Pics or it didn't happen

[–] numbermess@fedia.io 7 points 1 day ago

And that man's name? Albert Einstein (maybe)

[–] AliOski@feddit.nl 13 points 1 day ago

Well duh, they are too stupid for that.

They will definitely kill the other mouse if that means they'll survive instead.

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 day ago

Bro hasn’t watched five minutes of discovery channel.

[–] bloogoose@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Animals with enough to eat and space to roam are less likely to act aggressively. Humans are animals.

[–] blueworld@piefed.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Given the OpenAI/HuggingFace Agentic AI breaking loose and diagnostics to find it, this seems to frame our direction right now. We seem to be barreling ahead into making our own mantrap.

[–] eah@programming.dev 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That was just an advertisement for the AI companies. I'm surprised the media aired it. Well,... not surprised. It's the media.

[–] crispbacon99@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

Not just that but it's like the third time they've done this. I remember them saying the same about fable 5 but from using it myself, wasn't drastically different from previous models

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 1 points 1 day ago

A fake quote about traps and putting a hair on the image is a nice self reference to what this really is.