42 - Mouse Utopia Experiment

As promised here is my video on the Mouse Utopia Experiments by John B. Calhoun. These particular experiments were done with mice and rats. The idea was to see how rodent populations expanded in an environment without natural predators and plenty of food available to them. The only limiting factor to the expansion of the mouse population was space and overcrowded conditions. The idea behind the experiments was to see if the data could be translated over to major cities that were rapidly growing in population in the 1950s and 1960s as the baby boomer generation was born in overcrowded cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angles. Dr. Calhoun created the first mouse universe experiment in 1963 with four breeding pairs and the population expanded into multiple hundreds of mice. Looking at these experiments in a new way I see Suburbia as an attempt to keep economic growth going by reducing the density of housing in the twentieth century. It worked for a while but now the populations that have living in such types of housing for multiple generations are now starting to have less children. We assume that people are having less children on a conscious level, but I don't believe that's the case. Food is cheaper and more plentiful then ever, oil is still relatively cheap when compared to historical standards before the 1920s and 1930s. Dr. Calhoun created many other mouse and rat utopias but no matter what he did and no matter how he set the parameters for his experiments the populations of mice became hostile towards each other as soon as their populations reached a high point. Some mice roamed around the environment in gangs biting the tales of other mice, while female mice started becoming hostile towards their own offspring. Mice had issues with sexuality as many mice started trying to mate with both males and females. Some of them, called the beautiful ones would groom themselves quietly from the corners of the habitat and observe the collapse of their society. It's clear to see that many of the social issues that humans faced from the early 19th century to today are similar to those faced by the mice in the Mouse Utopia. Or should we call it the Mouse Dystopia?

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy