![]() ![]() Mice are useful to study biological phenomena, poor substitutes in sociology or psychology. ![]() Comparing stressed rodents to humans is like apples to carburetors.ĥ. Social animals have individual hierarchy plateaus. Rodents briefly care for young, but they have no biological impulse to care for older generations or young that don't belong to them. Birds and primates have social hierarchies. Mice pups are altricial - they can't even swallow milk or urinate for themselves or regulate their body temp - the mother must groom the milk and urine mechanically by licking the pups. Mice are prone to hyperthermia if they can't regulate their temp properly because of overcrowding - you can't separate those factors or the buildup of ammonia (which is toxic).ģ. Mice need space, just like food and water. Colony behaviors are seen in all mice - "homosexuality" (however defined), maternal and paternal infanticide, "duds" that don't breed or mate, etc.Ģ. Mice are stressed (psychologically/ physically) by overcrowding. This experiment goes from terrifying to interesting with insight. If that sounds familiar, well it's pretty much what human had to do in the not too distant past. We probably wouldn't have seen such explosive population growth and mice would have far more clearly defined roles in order keep the colony thriving. My hunch tells me that the mice society would do much better. Perhaps someone can create an AI simulation where the mice have to face life and death danger and work hard to find food. Unfortunately such experiments would be absolutely unthinkable in today's world and he would have been tossed in jail for animal abuse. None of mice had to work for food and I think that actually play an important role in the breakdown. Calhoun set up his first utopia, involving Norway rats, in the woods behind his house to monitor rodents over time and figure out what factors drove their population growth. I do think there is one other important factor that was missed. Why did the rat utopia fail The project had limited success, partly because no one could figure out what aspects of rodent behavior, lifestyle, or biology to target. It's definitely up to everyone's own POV if the experiment on mice can be paralleled to human, but it's probably ignorant to say it means absolutely nothing. We are currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society.weak, feminized men with little to no skills and no protection instincts, and overly agitated and aggressive females with no maternal instincts.”įirst time seeing this and it's sad that I am not even surprised with the finding. John Calhoun repeated the same experiment 25 more times, and each time the result was the same.Ĭalhoun's scientific work has been used as a model for interpreting social collapse, and his research serves as a focal point for the study of urban sociology. ![]() By 1973, he had killed the last mouse in the Universe 25. Two years after the start of the experiment, the last baby of the colony was born. As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% and reproduction reached zero.Īmong the endangered mice, homosexuality was observed and, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. The former was characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence - no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society. According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of two stages: the "first death" and "second death." At one point, "beautiful males" and "isolated females" made up the majority of the population. ![]() They refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice". There was a low birth rate and, at the same time, an increase in mortality in younger rodents. As time went on, the females showed more and more aggressive behaviour, isolation elements and lack of reproductive mood. As a result, the females did not protect themselves and in turn became aggressive towards their young. The larger rodents began to attack the group, with the result that many males begin to "collapse" psychologically. When the number of rodents reached 600, a hierarchy was formed between them and then the so-called "wretches" appeared. Calhoun’s article here and an Atlas Obscura article here.In the beginning, he placed four pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly.īut, after 315 days their reproduction began to decrease significantly. Listen in as we dive into the research paper detailing exactly what happened to the mice in Universe 25, from meteoric rise to tragic demise.Ĭheck out Dr. Within a few years, the city was in ruins. John Calhoun created what should have been a perfect mouse city - unlimited food, shelter, and water with no predators or inclement weather. What happens when you give a scientist, obsessed with biblical death, near unlimited control over a utopian city of mice? Well…a lot of death, it turns out. ![]()
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