If anyone wants to DISAPPEAR down an academic / YouTube / reading tunnel this weekend... GOOGLE John B. Calhoun and the UNIVERSE 25 Experiment.

The "Universe 25" experiment is one of the most terrifying experiments in the history of science. Through the behavior of a colony of mice, the study is an attempt by scientists to explain human societies.

At a time (in the 1960's and 1970's) when most researchers were studying scarcity, lack of resources, and the side effects of overpopulation (like famine) - John Calhoun decided to take a different approach and study a universe of abundance.

The idea of "Universe 25" Came from the American scientist John Calhoun, who created an "ideal world" in which hundreds of mice would live and reproduce.

More specifically, Calhoun built the so-called "Paradise of Mice" or “Rat-City”, a specially designed space where rodents had an abundance of FREE food, water, housing, nesting supplies, sexual partners, as well as a large living space. No work was required for these items, they were required 24/7 for free.

In the beginning, he placed four pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly.

However, after 315 days their reproduction began to decrease significantly. When the number of rodents reached around 600, a hierarchy was formed between them. This is also about the time that the so-called "wretches" appeared.

The larger or more socially aggressive rodents, called the wretches, began to attack the group for no cause. Remember, there was no scarcity of food or other resources to “fight” over. These attacks became violence for the sake of violence. The result was that many smaller, less aggressive, or more socialized males began to "collapse" psychologically. Male mice who were ousted socially through these attacks, began to withdrawal.

Also, as a result of the overabundance and incomprehensible violence of the Wretches, the females did not protect themselves and in turn became aggressive towards their young.

As time went on, the females showed more and more aggressive behavior (even going as far as cannibalizing their own offspring), they became isolated, and eventually lost the desire to reproduce. With no males to protect them, lower birthrates, and with fewer and fewer males showing sexual interest, the females lost purpose.

Within a few generations there was a low birth rate and, at the same time, an increase in mortality of the younger rodents (the wretches & the moms who attacked the young mice destroyed several generations of offspring and population growth platued) .

Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice".

These (mostly Male) Beta-mice refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. This new version of Beta-Males would do nothing but eat, sleep, and groom themselves. They would hide from others and spend countless hours working on primping themselves – but without the end result of attempting to attract a mate or interact with female mice.

All they cared about was food and sleep. At one point, "beautiful males" and "isolated females" made up the majority of the population. At any time, due to their superior numbers, they could have overthrown the hierarchy and/or changed the declining society. However, they became so isolated, self-involved, and angry at their own offspring, that they did nothing.

According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of two stages: the "first death" and "second death."

The first stage of “death” was characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence — no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society. With the tasks associated with living - gathering food, water, building housing, mate selection, fighting for territory - now gone, these mice retreated to their territories and lived out their remaining days in apathy and despair. Often not even defending themselves when the hierarchy attacked and bit their tails into bloody stumps. This first generation to “realize” that all their needs were taken care of, would just lay down and allow themselves to be attacked and bloodied.

As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% (with mom’s and wretches cannibalizing the youth) and reproduction reached zero (once an overwhelming amount of the population was “isolated” females and “beautiful” males who had no sex-drive).

Among the endangered mice, increased homosexuality was observed due to perceived lack of the imperative to breed, and, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. Most shocking was the ability of the "wretched" and the "mothers" to attack their own offspring & eat them even when ample food was being supplied by the "system."

Additionally, violent rape of male and female mice, by the wretches, was observed within a few generations.

Two years after the start of the experiment, the last baby of the colony was born. By 1973, he had killed the last mouse in the Universe 25 and the society was gone within 10 generations.

John Calhoun repeated the same experiment several more times, and each time the result was the same.

Calhoun'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. It also serves a testament to what can happen when the system "provides" for every basic need for a population, and takes away the "purpose" that has been part of our DNA for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

I think we are currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society and going down this rabbit hole was interesting and frightening.