the experiment that exhibits the results of overpopulation on conduct | EUROtoday

Dn the suffocating immobility of an infinite visitors jam, or within the coronary heart of a crowded bus at rush hour, the place massive cities excel at suffocating us, it’s tough to not evoke this scathing barb from Jean-Paul Sartre : “Hell is different folks. » Should we then search happiness within the tranquility of enormous inexperienced areas? John B. Calhoun, father of one of the vital important research in city sociology of the twentieth century^e century, tackled this query. Not by finding out people (too sophisticated to handle), however mice. And what he found is as fascinating as it’s disturbing.

Imagine for a second a paradise for mice: limitless assets, limitless meals, comfy housing and no predators. What extra might you ask for? The yr is 1968, and Calhoun recreates this miniature utopia, midway between Disneyland and Club Med for rodents. The concept is straightforward: observe the results of accelerating inhabitants density on a small society. Initially, on this miniature Eden, eight mice (4 males and 4 females) frolic fortunately, reproduce (quickly), type social teams; In brief, it’s the nice life. But now, after 560 days of this idyll, with 2,200 mice, issues take a flip for the more severe.

Rodent paradise, a utopia that turns right into a nightmare

The first indicators of dysfunction are delicate. The environment deteriorates, and social concord cracks. Some males develop into aggressive, as if their share of cheese had been stolen, whereas others lock themselves in contemplative solitude, fleeing all contact with their friends. Bands of idle younger males roam the enclosure, attacking females and the youngest, in a dystopian local weather.

Dozens of younger male mice, unable to seek out their place in teams dominated by others, develop into bands of marauders who assault females and younger mice.

Sexual and maternal behaviors are disrupted. Some males develop into solely gay or hypersexual. Mothers abandon their infants or typically assault them. Infant mortality rises to 96%. John B. Calhoun even observes that violence and unrest develop into commonplace, till there are virtually no mice left that aren’t bloodstained, their tails bitten and chewed.

And then, on this ambient chaos, a wierd class emerges: the “Beautiful”. These people avoid energy struggles and bloody brawls. Carefully avoiding replica and battle, they commit themselves solely to their well-being: consuming, sleeping, and grooming themselves, like decadent aristocrats of a crumbling empire. While society collapses, they proceed, centered solely on their navels, their magnificence ritual.

At 600^e Today, utopia is only a distant reminiscence. Reproduction stops fully, the younger solely survive just a few days, and extinction turns into inevitable. What started as a mannequin society, filled with promise, ends in chaos and desolation. The lesson appears apparent: when there are too many individuals, even in the very best of all worlds, issues go incorrect.

A mirror for humanity?

Calhoun’s experiment triggered a sensation when it was printed, a lot in order that his idea of a “behavioral cesspool” entered public debate: are people condemned, like mice, to violence and isolation when density turns into insufferable? Would life within the metropolis, packed like sardines, lead us to our downfall?

In hindsight, some researchers have certified the significance of Calhoun’s findings. Many have cautioned in opposition to making any analogies between rodents and people. In 2008, historian Edmund Ramsden wrote in a scholarly article on the topic: “Calhoun’s rats captured the imagination of a generation preoccupied with issues such as population explosion, environmental quality and increase in urban violence. » But according to him, unlike rodents, humans have this miraculous capacity for adaptation which prevents them from totally sinking into chaos. “Rats can suffer from overpopulation,” he says, “but humans can cope with it. »

The key, space planning

Hope for the future: the key is in “conceptual space”. Calhoun himself offered a glimmer of hope. In some experiments, when rodents were given more space or the ability to dig tunnels, violence decreased. The moral of the story? It’s all in the layout of the space. In a 1979 report, Calhoun concluded that “designing a better built environment” was the key to avoiding social abuse.

Even more interesting, he mentions the idea of ​​a “conceptual space.” For him, in the future, our societies will end up being woven into a single social network. Calhoun dreamed of an “expansion of conceptual space,” a world where technology and culture would make it possible to live in harmony, even in small spaces. This global network that we have today – of course we think of the Internet and smartphones – could well be the realization of his dream. John B. Calhoun gave the rats everything they needed except space.