Scientist Designed a ‘Utopia’ for Mice and Observed Them — Soon, Things Turned Scary
Have you ever wondered what happens when animals are given everything they could ever need, like food, shelter, and safety, without having to struggle for living? In the 1960s, a scientist named John Calhoun set out to answer this question with a bold experiment that we might never have imagined. He decided to build a so-called mouse 'utopia.' Initially, when the experiment began, the mice loved to live in their perfect little world, and their population saw a rapid growth. However, just after a while, things turned upside down, and eventually the colony collapsed completely.
Speaking to the Royal Society of Medicine in London, Calhoun described how he had constructed a miniature city, Universe 25, for the mice population. As reported by The Guardian, it resembled a complex housing colony, with 16 identical building blocks arranged in a square layout. Each of these blocks consisted of multiple small units, which was more than enough for thousands of mice to live comfortably. Not just this, it also featured a communal dining area and water fountains to provide easy access to water. To avoid confusion, each mouse was marked with a unique color code so it could be tracked without any difficulty.
The only major drawback in this utopia was space. As the mouse population increased, overcrowding was inevitable, and Calhoun aimed to observe the challenges that would arise from living in such tight conditions. Calhoun allegedly noticed three alarming trends in what turned out to be a 'mouse hell.' With no space to escape, fights broke out constantly, and weaker males gave up on social life altogether, spending their days only eating and sleeping. On the other hand, dominant males also eventually lost their strength as endless battles made them tired. Stressed females either abandoned or rejected their young ones and lost their interest in mating altogether.
Despite unlimited food and water and other top-class facilities, birth rates eventually collapsed. The scientist behind the experiment also connected the patterns he observed in his mouse colonies to the future challenges he believed humans might face. He stated, "I shall largely speak of mice, but my thoughts are on man, on healing, on life and its evolution." However, Calhoun’s experiment has also faced enough criticism, with many arguing that its scientific basis is not so strong.
After all, humans are far more complex than mice, with a greater ability to adapt and reshape our surroundings—making direct comparisons between the two deeply flawed. Sam Kean of Science History Institute Museum & Library spoke about this and said, "Ultimately, Calhoun’s work functions like a Rorschach blot—people see what they want to see." However, Calhoun said, “Of course, we realize that rats are not men, but they do have remarkable similarities in physiology and social relations. We can at least hope to develop ideas that will provide a springboard for attaining insights into human social relations and the consequent state of mental health.”
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