“Universe 25”: what it is and why its conclusion is disturbing

Although “Universe 25” may seem like the title of a science fiction novel to us, in reality, it gives its name to one of the most important experiments in social psychology. In 1968, ethologist and biologist John Calhoun built a utopian scenario with mice to find out what the effects of overpopulation would be. Five years later, that metropolis was devastated.

What happened in this period demonstrated that the effects of progressive overcrowding can be very harmful at all levels.. Although conclusions with animal models cannot always be extrapolated to humans, they do offer references that invite reflection. Let’s find out what that experience consisted of on a Maryland farm.

Overcrowding leads to violent behavior in most species.

What did the “Universe 25” experiment consist of?

John Calhoun was an ethologist who worked for much of his life for the United States National Institute of Mental Health.. Overpopulation and overcrowding were of considerable concern to the scientific community in the mid-20th century; The renowned researcher has addressed these issues prolifically since the 1950s.

In 1968 he began the experiment known as “Universe 25” on a rural property in Poolesville, Maryland. The objective was to study behavior in a context of species overpopulation. For this purpose, an authentic Garden of Eden was built for the mice, with multiple nesting areas and constant resources of water and food.

It was a kind of metal corral with tunnels, measuring 2.7 meters wide by 1.4 meters high. They had everything they needed, except space. Let’s find out how the progress and results were.

From the Garden of Eden to extinction

In 1968 four pairs of mice were introduced to the habitat; As time went by, it was observed that every 55 days the number of births doubled. In month 19, from the beginning of the experiment, there were already 2,200 mice in that habitat. This reproductive rhythm was explained by the absence of predators and access to food.

It was an ideal society; However, other phenomena of great interest to social psychology occurred. Below, we point them out.

Hierarchies were established, with dominant alpha males, who controlled the harems of females. Mice that lost fights with dominant males They created “dissident” groups.The fights and fights were constant, until the alpha males stopped defending their groups of females.The females had to initiate defensive behaviors for the offspring. However, the level of violence was so high that they ended up abandoning or neglecting their offspring. Between days 315 and 600, aberrant behaviors arose that broke the social structure. The females became aggressive and many stopped getting pregnant.Compulsive sexual behavior was born, including mating between mice of the same sex. Cannibalism appeared. Social bonds stopped being created. From day 600 They stopped reproducing, defending territories and limited themselves to basic tasks for their health, such as food and hygiene. The population, faced with the absolute rupture of all social patterns, A progressive extinction then began.

In 1973, Less than five years after the start of the experiment, the population went from 2,200 mice to none.

What deductions were obtained from the social experiment?

Dr. Calhoun did not hesitate to anthropomorphize the behaviors of the mice, classifying them, throughout the experiment, into “juvenile delinquents” and “social deserters.” Some time later he was criticized for this type of terminology. That research was published in the journal The Royal Society of Medicine and the deductions he arrived at were the following.

1. The “behavioral sink”

Calhoun coined a new term. We call this set of aberrant behaviors that appear in overcrowded conditions and break the social order a “behavioral sink”. When the number of individuals occupying a space exceeds balance and harmony, three types of responses appear:

Compulsive and irrational violence. The most basic bonds are neglected, such as caring for one’s own offspring and offspring. That behavior that John Calhoun defined as “the beautiful” also arises. That is, there are individuals who withdraw and isolate themselves to focus only on personal hygiene and subsistence (food) tasks.

2. Some innovative behaviors

The famous experiment also provided some data for hope: there were mice that demonstrated innovative behavior. Faced with a chaotic, threatening and declining context, a few individuals created tunnels in order to escape from that hostile environment. Others built higher cubicles, so that they did not have contact with the most overcrowded and violent areas.

3. Individuals without status

One fact that was demonstrated is that when mice stopped fighting for their territories, they lost their status. The same thing happened with the females once they became aware that they could not care for their young. The environment was so hostile that the social hierarchy fell apart.. Thus, social behaviors emerged that reflected helplessness and abandonment.

4. A (questionable) analogy of today’s world

John Calhoun presented his behavioral work in mice as an analogy for today’s world. Furthermore, the context accompanied. We were in the 70s and population growth was high. Dr. Edmund Ramsden, from Queen Mary University of London, published an interesting essay on this experiment in 2011.

Calhoun’s studies were presented to reflect on or justify the need for population control, especially in the most disadvantaged communities. However, the experiment was interpreted with caution. A debate began, essentially academic, regarding whether this type of studies could be extrapolated to human societies.

In “Universe 25” the mice stopped carrying out tasks such as reproduction, breeding and defending their territory.

From “Universe 25” to the human world: what conclusions do we draw?

Currently, Unlike the 1970s, birth rates decreased significantly in developed countries; So much so that we are an increasingly aging society. To this, we must add another phenomenon: it is common for young people to have no interest in sex. Have we reached Calhoun’s utopian scenario?

Be careful when extrapolating what happens in the laboratory to the real world

The social experiment on overcrowding reminds us that not all the phenomena we observe in the laboratory with animals can be transferred to the real world. Specifically, this fact from the history of research is almost like a Rorschach blot: each person sees what he believes.

Furthermore, outside the laboratory there are so many variables influencing interaction that they are impossible to study in a controlled environment, such as these rooms.

In addition, let’s think that The scenario designed for these mice was artificial and with the clear intention of generating population chaos, for example, by limiting the space. Maybe in a natural environment the same thing would not have happened.

There is a bigger problem than overcrowding.

The biggest problem with the experiment was not so much the reduced space or overcrowding, but rather the loss of individual functions. The abandonment of roles produced a social imbalance. Now, if we transfer this to the human world we identify a similar problem.

If we have a large number of people incapable of fulfilling their functions in society, alienation and social fracture can appear. If at any time we lose the ability to comply and execute complex behaviors, due to environmental factors, a problem would arise.

«Universe 25» compared to current reality

Human beings have tools to avoid replicating what happened in that barn of Dr. Calhoun. We have technology, medicine, an ever-expanding science and even the possibility of exploring new environments outside the planet.

Our intelligence as a species serves a purpose. And it is none other than facilitating innovation to survive in complex scenarios.. It’s what we always do successfully.

You might be interested…