A scientist named John Calhoun created the “ideal world” for mice to live in called the “Paradise of Mice” that had an abundance of food, water, and space.

Starting with 4 mice, the colony thrived for 315 days. The colony hit 600 mice and the largest rodents began to rule the colony. The effects? Females stopped protecting themselves and began to attack their young, and they earned the name “the isolated female.”

Eventually, another group of mice sprouted. They were called “the beautiful mice” — males that refused to mate with the females and cared more for food and sleep.

At one point, “the beautiful mice” and “the isolated female” made up most of the population.

Then phase 2 began.

Phase 2 was characterized by loss of purpose in life with no desire to mate, rear young mice, and establish role in their society. Cannibalism began despite plenty of food. In 1973, 700 days after the experiment began, the colony collapsed and died out.

This experiment was repeated 25x with the same result. And now this experiment is a focal point of interpreting societal collapse (especially when all basic needs are met).

Why did I share all this?
No reason other than it being super interesting. Thanks for reading!

#TheMillionImpactMission