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Kraken
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I just got reminded of it again.
It is so fascinating and scary how accurate of a prediction it is.
Worth watching, Here it is:
The first experiments were made between 1947 and 1951[5] using 32 to 56 Norwegian rats in a 10×14-foot case in a barn. As the rats were provided with food, water, nesting materials and protection from predators it was called "Utopia".[6] The case was divided in four interconnected rooms able to hold a dozen rats each. With time, the rats started to show bizarre conducts.[7] Some of the behaviors observed included:[8]
The experiment was stopped when conditions of the rodents became too extreme even for the ethical standards of the time. A second experiment was made in the 1970s with a 101-inch square cage and using mice, reaching a population about 2200 mice.[5] He liked to call his cages "universes".[8] Its first study’s result were published in 1962 in Scientific American titled: Population Density and Social Pathology. Calhoun feared that some of these behaviors may happened in human society among highly crowded areas like most big cities leading to civilization and societal collapse. Calhoun performed several experiments using albino mice using even composition of male and female that had just reached maturity. Half were performed with 32 mice and the other half performed with 56. In the most famous experiment "Universe 25" Calhoun found four distinct phases. These phases were named:
It is so fascinating and scary how accurate of a prediction it is.
Worth watching, Here it is:
The first experiments were made between 1947 and 1951[5] using 32 to 56 Norwegian rats in a 10×14-foot case in a barn. As the rats were provided with food, water, nesting materials and protection from predators it was called "Utopia".[6] The case was divided in four interconnected rooms able to hold a dozen rats each. With time, the rats started to show bizarre conducts.[7] Some of the behaviors observed included:[8]
- Some dominant males made harems, taking control over several female rats to mate with them. Interestingly the dominant males allowed some males to remain although these males exhibited odd behavior, as rather than try to mate with the females the males would attempt to mate with the dominant male and the dominant male would let them.
- Some females made groups and created their own territories living together and violently rejecting any male approaching, with no apparent interest in breeding.
- Of those that did breed, strange behaviors started to show, like violently attacking the infants (this is not uncommon, for some reason rodents sometimes eat their offspring) or stopping caring for the offspring long before it was normal. Those who survived were often unprepared to care for their own offspring once they had them.
- High infant mortality rate.
- Some males still tried to mate even if that caused them to suffer violence from stronger males.
- Sporadic and unexplained violence. Some males were frequent recipients of violence that they had to endure because there was no escape.
- Homosexual behavior in some males.
- Some rats just kept themselves isolated from the rest, not interacting with them nor trying to mate, dedicating most of their time to grooming. These were called "the beautiful ones" precisely because they spent a lot of time cleaning themselves.
- Cannibalism.
- Three groups of male non dominant rats were defined:
- Group 1: The Pansexuals; These rats wouldn't compete for social standing spending their time rummaging around the enclosure attempting to mate with any other rats regardless of age or gender and their advances would often go unchallenged.
- Group 2: The Somnabulists; This group was simply described as fat, sleek and healthy looking ignoring the other rats and being mostly ignored by them.
- Group 3: The Probers; The weirdest of the 3 groups these rodents were hyperactive and hyper sexual pursuing females in heat despite suffering numerous injuries from the dominant rats. The Probers would also cannibalize their young instead of caring for them.
- After the experiment concluded Calhoun took the 4 healthiest males and females out of the enclosure but their behavior was altered to the point that they could no longer care for their young as their pups all died shortly after weening.
The experiment was stopped when conditions of the rodents became too extreme even for the ethical standards of the time. A second experiment was made in the 1970s with a 101-inch square cage and using mice, reaching a population about 2200 mice.[5] He liked to call his cages "universes".[8] Its first study’s result were published in 1962 in Scientific American titled: Population Density and Social Pathology. Calhoun feared that some of these behaviors may happened in human society among highly crowded areas like most big cities leading to civilization and societal collapse. Calhoun performed several experiments using albino mice using even composition of male and female that had just reached maturity. Half were performed with 32 mice and the other half performed with 56. In the most famous experiment "Universe 25" Calhoun found four distinct phases. These phases were named:
- Phase A: Adjustment Days 0-104, this was before any new mice were born and was marked by "considerable social turmoil" as they adjusted to themselves and their expanded new surroundings.
- Phase B: Exploitation Days 104-315, This is when the population began increasing, doubling every 5 days and the brood began clumping despite no influence from the cage design.
- Phase C: Stagnation Days 315-560, This is when the mice behavior began to mirror those of the rat experiments as a large clump of outcast male mice formed in the center of the cage and would violently attack one another. with nowhere to retreat the victim would simply lay still until it was over. The outcast females however formed small groups in the upper apartments living quietly with each other. This is also when the behavior sink took full effect as mice clumped near some hoppers while others remained untouched. The dominant males began to be overwhelmed with the amount of new males reaching sexual maturity and didn't have the energy to defend their territory leaving it to the females. This caused the females to become more aggressive even towards their own young and kick them out of nest before they were done weening. The added stress would also cause the mice to leaving young behind when moving nests and reabsorb young in the womb which in turn with the other factors caused fertility rates to plummet.
- Phase D: Death Days 560-X, This generation of mice was denoted by a generation of young rejected and abused by their parents and "The death of societal organisation". The females of this generation had little to no parental skills leaving them unable to care for young after weening. The males of this generation were dubbed the "beautiful one's" and exhibited peculiar behaviors as "They never engaged in sexual approaches towards females, and they never engaged in fighting, and so they had no wound or scar tissue thus their pelage was in excellent condition. Their behavioral repertoire became largely confined by eating, drinking, sleeping and grooming none of which carried any social implications beyond that represented by contiguity of bodies". Calhoun predicted that after the last males with reproductive instincts died the colony would die around day 1061.
