Shooting From The Hip - 10 - Universe 25

The idea of ​​"Universe 25" came from American scientist John Calhoun - Ethology is the scientific study of non-human animal behavior, usually with a focus on behavior under natural conditions & viewing behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait.
"Universe 25" experiment is 1 of the most terrifying experiments in the history of science, which, through the behavior of a colony of mice, is an attempt by scientists to explain human societies. Who created an "ideal world" in which hundreds of mice would live & reproduce.
Calhoun built a "Paradise of Mice", a specially designed space where rodents had abundance of food & water, as well as a large living space. In the beginning, he placed 4 pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly. However, after 315 days - reproduction began to decrease significantly.

"Behavioral sink" is a term invented by ethologist John B. Calhoun to describe a collapse in behavior which can result from overcrowding. The term & concept derive from a series of over-population experiments Calhoun conducted on Norway rats between 1958 & 1962.

When the number of rodents reached 600, a hierarchy was formed between them & then the so-called "wretches" appeared. The larger rodents began to attack the group, with the result that many males begin to "collapse" psychologically. As a result, the females did not protect themselves & in turn became aggressive towards the young.

As time went on, the females showed more & more aggressive behavior, isolation elements & lack of reproductive mood. There was a low birth rate &, at the same time, an increase in mortality in younger rodents. Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice". They refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. All they cared about was food & sleep. At one point, "beautiful males" & "isolated females" made up the majority of the population.

According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of 2 stages: the "first death" & "second death." The "first death" characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence -- no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society.

As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% & reproduction reached zero. Among the endangered mice, homosexuality was observed &, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. 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. John Calhoun repeated the same experiment 25 more times, & each time the result was the same.

Calhoun's scientific work has been used as a model for interpreting social collapse, & his research serves as a focal point for the study of urban sociology.
In the 1962 study, Calhoun described the behavior as follows:

Many (female rats) were unable to carry pregnancy to full term or to survive delivery of their litters if they did. An even greater number, after successfully giving birth, fell short in their maternal functions. Among the males the behavior disturbances ranged from sexual deviation to cannibalism & from frenetic overactivity to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals would emerge to eat, drink & move about only when other members of the community were asleep. The social organization of the animals showed equal disruption. ...

The common source of these disturbances became most dramatically apparent in the populations of our first series of 3 experiments, in which we observed the development of what we called a behavioral sink. The animals would crowd together in greatest number in 1 of 4 interconnecting pens in which the colony was maintained. As many as 60 of the 80 rats in each experimental population would assemble in 1 pen during periods of feeding. Individual rats would rarely eat except in the company of other rats. As a result extreme population densities developed in the pen adopted for eating, leaving the others with sparse populations.
In the experiments in which the behavioral sink developed, infant mortality ran as high as 96 % among the most disoriented groups in the population.
Are we then currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society ... weak, men with little to no skills & no protection instincts & overly agitated & aggressive females with no maternal instincts.
Applicable to humans - the fate of the population of mice as a metaphor for the potential fate of humankind. Characterized social breakdown as a "spiritual death", with bodily death as the "2nd death".
Meaning - 1 a: the thing one intends to convey especially by language: b: the thing that is conveyed especially by language: 2: something meant or intended
Purpose: something set up as an object or end to be attained: intention a resolution, determination : a subject under discussion or an action in course of execution. Purpose is the cumulative effect of meaningful goals.