- Joined
- Jul 21, 2017
I was reading through the post-scarcity thread in this forum, and I was reminded of John B. Calhoun and the concept of behavioral sink.
If you don't know what I'm talking about (and can't be bothered to read the links I've provided), I'll summarize the experiment like this: Calhoun made a mice paradise with no danger whatsoever, rooms for every mouse and infinite food and water. The only catch was the somewhat limited space, even though it wasn't small in the slightest (the maximum amount of mice that could be stored safely was almost 4000 and at the beginning they were only 8 ).
After the initial population boom, the birthrate dropped drastically; and then this happened:
While I can't be bothered to wittily link each instance of "social aberration" to some news article about stuff that's happening recently, those that didn't live under a rock until now will surely recognize a lot of those symptoms in modern social behaviors and/or movements (feminism, PC culture, emasculation and nu-males, even incels, among other things).
It's important to note that, when the population peaked (2200 mice), all the mice basically lived their entire life near other mice, being them eating, sleeping or passing time and it's accepted that this was the most prominent factor in the premature end of the experiment, not the limited space; that was never nowhere near filled up before the end.
Now, how can this experiment about mice be relevant for humans? Aside from all the previously mentioned similarities, the experiment proved that when individuals spend the majority (if not all) of their life at close contact with others, it will lead to socially aberrant behavior.
While I don't think the majority of our cities are nearly as crowded as it would be needed to show this behavior organically (Japan has them and their dropping birthrate is not unknown, although this is obviously not the only reason that happen), I believe that the constant social interactions brought forth by the Internet (especially social networks like Facebook) in the last 10-15 years is having a similar effect on society to the mice's limited personal space in the experiment. This would include the ending, hence the title.
I'd like to know if someone else feels the same or if I should stop reading too much into stuff...
By the way, as you may have guessed already, the mice utopia collapsed shortly after the breaking point and the once thriving population actually went extinct because "corrupted" mice never recovered or reverted back once the numbers were stable again.
P.S. = I'm not against Internet in any way, shape or form, but I couldn't resist the clickbait-y title.
If you don't know what I'm talking about (and can't be bothered to read the links I've provided), I'll summarize the experiment like this: Calhoun made a mice paradise with no danger whatsoever, rooms for every mouse and infinite food and water. The only catch was the somewhat limited space, even though it wasn't small in the slightest (the maximum amount of mice that could be stored safely was almost 4000 and at the beginning they were only 8 ).
After the initial population boom, the birthrate dropped drastically; and then this happened:
This period between day 315 and day 600 saw a breakdown in social structure and in normal social behavior. Among the aberrations in behavior were the following: expulsion of young before weaning was complete, wounding of young, increase in homosexual behavior, inability of dominant males to maintain the defense of their territory and females, aggressive behavior of females, passivity of non-dominant males with increased attacks on each other which were not defended against.
During this period females ceased to reproduce. Their male counterparts withdrew completely, never engaging in courtship or fighting. They ate, drank, slept, and groomed themselves – all solitary pursuits. Sleek, healthy coats and an absence of scars characterized these males. They were dubbed "the beautiful ones." Breeding never resumed and behavior patterns were permanently changed.
While I can't be bothered to wittily link each instance of "social aberration" to some news article about stuff that's happening recently, those that didn't live under a rock until now will surely recognize a lot of those symptoms in modern social behaviors and/or movements (feminism, PC culture, emasculation and nu-males, even incels, among other things).
It's important to note that, when the population peaked (2200 mice), all the mice basically lived their entire life near other mice, being them eating, sleeping or passing time and it's accepted that this was the most prominent factor in the premature end of the experiment, not the limited space; that was never nowhere near filled up before the end.
Now, how can this experiment about mice be relevant for humans? Aside from all the previously mentioned similarities, the experiment proved that when individuals spend the majority (if not all) of their life at close contact with others, it will lead to socially aberrant behavior.
While I don't think the majority of our cities are nearly as crowded as it would be needed to show this behavior organically (Japan has them and their dropping birthrate is not unknown, although this is obviously not the only reason that happen), I believe that the constant social interactions brought forth by the Internet (especially social networks like Facebook) in the last 10-15 years is having a similar effect on society to the mice's limited personal space in the experiment. This would include the ending, hence the title.
I'd like to know if someone else feels the same or if I should stop reading too much into stuff...
By the way, as you may have guessed already, the mice utopia collapsed shortly after the breaking point and the once thriving population actually went extinct because "corrupted" mice never recovered or reverted back once the numbers were stable again.
P.S. = I'm not against Internet in any way, shape or form, but I couldn't resist the clickbait-y title.