As part of a social experiment, heavenly conditions were created for the mouse population: unlimited supplies of food and drink, the absence of predators and diseases, and sufficient space for reproduction. However, as a result, the entire colony of mice died out. Why did this happen, what lessons should humanity learn from this, and what is the basis for the manipulation of consciousness?
Americanethologist John Calhoun (John
B.Calhoun, 1917-95), spent a number of amazing experiments in the 60s and 70s XX century. D. Calhoun invariably chose rodents as experimental subjects, although the ultimate goal of the research was always was future prediction For human society.As a result of numerous experiments on rodent colonies, Calhoun formulated a new term, “ behavioral sink” (behavioral sink), denoting a transition to destructive and deviant behavior in conditions of overpopulation and crowding.
Through his research, John Calhoun acquired a certain fame in the 60s, as many people in Western countries experiencing post-warbaby boom, people began to think about how overpopulationwill affect public institutions and each person in particular.
He conducted his most famous experiment, which made an entire generation think about the future, in 1972 together with the National Institute mental health(NIMH). The purpose of the experiment " Universe-25"was an analysis of the influence of population density on the behavioral patterns of rodents. Calhoun built a veritable paradise for mice in the laboratory. A tank was created with dimensions 2 x 2 meters and height 1.5 meters, from where the experimental subjects could not get out. Inside the tank, a constant temperature comfortable for mice was maintained (+20 °C), food and water were abundant, and numerous damn for females. Every week the tank was cleaned and kept constantly clean, all necessary safety measures were taken: the appearance of predators in the tank or the occurrence of mass infections was excluded. The experimental mice were under constant control veterinarians, their health status was constantly monitored. System provision food and water was so thought out that 9500 mice could feed at the same time,without experiencing anydiscomfort, and 6144 mice consume water, Also without experiencing any problems. There was more than enough space for mice; the first problems of lack of shelter could arise only when the population reached a population size of over 3840 individuals. However, there have never been so many mice in the tank; the maximum population size is noted on level 2200 mice.
left: John Calhoun during the experiment. Photo - Journal of Social History, 2009
The experiment started from the moment it was placed inside the tank 4 x pairs of healthy mice, which took very little time to get used to it, to realize what"The mouse's tale" they fell into, and began multiply rapidly. Calhoun called the period of development"phase A", however, since the birth of the first The cubs entered the second "B" stage. This is a stage of exponential growth of the population in the tank under ideal conditions, the number of mice doubling every 55 days. Starting on day 315 of the experiment, the population growth rate slowed significantly, now doubling every 145 days, which marked the entry into the third phase C. At this point,tank, about 600 mice lived, and a certain hierarchy and a certain social life. There is physically less space than there was before.
A category of “outcasts” appeared, who were expelled to the center of the tank; they often became victims of aggression. The group of “outcasts” could be distinguished by their bitten tails, torn fur, and traces of blood on their bodies.The outcasts consisted primarily of young individuals who had not found a social role for themselves in the mouse hierarchy. The problem of lack of suitable social roles was caused by the fact thatUnder ideal tank conditions, mice lived for a long time; aging mice did not make room for young rodents. Therefore, aggression was often directed at new generations of individuals born in the tank. After the expulsion, the males broke down psychologically, showed less aggression, and did not want to protect their pregnant females or perform any social roles. Although they occasionally attacked either on other individuals from the society of “outcasts”, either on any other mice.
Females preparing to give birth became increasingly nervous, since as a result of increasing passivity among males, they became less protected from random attacks. As a result, the females began to show aggression, often fighting, protecting their offspring. However, paradoxically, aggression was not directed only at others; no less aggressiveness was manifested towards their children. Often the females killed their own and x cubs and moved to the uppernests, became aggressive hermits and refused to reproduce. As a result, the birth rate dropped significantly, and the mortality rate of young animals reached significant levels.
Soon the last stage of existence began"Mouse Paradise" - "Phase D" or the death phase, like her named John Calhoun. This stage was symbolized by the appearance of a new category of mice, called “beautiful”. These included males demonstrating uncharacteristic behavior for the species, refusing to fight and compete for females and territory, showing no desire to mate, and inclined to a passive lifestyle. The “beautiful” only ate, drank, slept and cleaned their skins, avoiding conflicts and performing any social functions. They received such a name because, unlike most of the other inhabitants of the tank, there were no traces of fierce battles, scars or torn hair on their bodies,their narcissism and narcissism became legendary. The researcher was also struck by the lack of desire among the “beautiful” to mate and reproduce; among the last wave of births in the tank, “beautiful” and single females, refusing to reproduce and escaping to the upper nests of the tank, became the majority.
The average age of a mouse in the last stage of the mouse paradise was 776 days, which is 200 days higher than the upper limit of reproductive age. The mortality rate of young animals was 100%, the number of pregnancies was insignificant, and soon amounted to 0. The endangered mice practiced homosexuality, deviant and inexplicable aggressive behavior in conditions of excess vital resources. Cannibalism flourished with a simultaneous abundance of food, females refused to raise cubs and killed them. The mice were rapidly dying out; on the 1780th day after the start of the experiment, the last inhabitant of the “mouse paradise” died.
Anticipating such a catastrophe, D. Calhoun, with the help of his colleague Dr.H. Marden spent a series of experiments in the third stage of the death phase. Several small groups of mice were removed from the tank and moved to equally ideal conditions, but more and in conditions of minimal population and unlimited free space. No crowding or intraspecific aggression. Essentially, the “beautiful” and single females were recreated conditions in which the first 4 pairs of mice in the tank multiplied exponentially and created a social structure. But to my surprisescientists, “beautiful” and single females yours did not change their behavior; they refused to mate, reproduce, and perform social functions related to reproduction. As a result, there were no new pregnancies and the mice died of old age. Similar similar results were noted in all resettled groups. In the end all experimental mice died under ideal conditions.
John Calhoun created the theory of two deaths based on the results of the experiment. "First Death"- this is the death of the spirit. When newborns individuals no longer had a place in the social hierarchy of the “mouse paradise”, there was a lack of social roles in ideal conditions with unlimited resources, open confrontation between adult and young rodents arose, and the level of unmotivated aggression increased. Growing population sizes, increasing crowding, increasing levels of physical contact, all this, according to Calhoun, led to the emergence of individuals capable of only the simplest behavior.
In an "ideal world" , in safety, with an abundance of food and water, and the absence of predators, most individuals only ate, drank, slept, and looked after themselves. Mouse- a simple animal, for which the most complex behavioral patterns- this is the process of courtship of a female, reproduction and care of offspring, defense of territory andcubs, participation in hierarchical social groups. The psychologically broken mice refused all of the above. Calhoun calls this rejection of complex behavioral patterns the “first Ouch death" or "deathspirit." After the first death physical death (“second death" in Calhoun's terminology) is inevitable and is a matter of short time. As a result, the first Ouch death" of a significant part of the population, the entire colony is doomed toextinction even in the conditions of “paradise”.
“Idleness, despondency, laziness, despondency...”
Calhoun was once asked about the reasons for the appearance of a group of rodents"beautiful". Calhoun spent a direct analogy with man, explaining that the key feature of man, his natural destiny- it is to live under pressure, tension and stress. Mice who gave up the fight and chose"the unbearable lightness of being" , have turned into autistic “handsome people”, capable of only the most primitive functions, eating and sleeping. The “beauties” abandoned everything complex and demanding and, in principle, became not capable to such strong and complex behavior. Calhoun draws parallels with many modern men, capable only of the most routine, daily activities to maintain physiological life, but with already deceased in spirit. Which translates into a loss of creativity, the ability to overcome and, most importantly, to be under pressure. Refusal to accept numerous challenges, running awayfrom stress, from lifefull of struggle and overcoming- this is the first death" in the terminology of John Calhoun or death spirit, followed inevitably by a second death, this time of the body.
Perhaps you still have a question, why was D. Calhoun’s experiment called “Universe-25”? It was The 25th scientist’s journey to create a “paradise for mice.” WITH your first experiments in creating« mouse world" he began back in 1947. Then the population of the mouse colony reached its limit with the presence of 200 individuals, and stabilized at 150. Then there were more, but they all went through the same stages as"Universe 25" in 1972 : A wave of violence and hypersexual activity was followed by apathy, asexuality and self-destruction.
WHAT INACCURACIES CAN BE INDICATED IN THE GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS?
Firstly , as a rule, beyond the scope of wide coverage, and even speculation around this experiment, the question remained - To also survived the longest in thishell?It turned out that these are mice capable of coping with as many social connections as possible. In the Universe- 25 survived the longest"Sociable mice".
Secondly , It should be noted that the researcher was looking for an answer precisely to the problem of overpopulation, which for many followers Thomas Malthus was« the main cause of social injustice» in society. My experiences Calhoun staged in the 60s of the last century, during« turbulent decade» , when a wave of protests by post-war youth took place in the United States. This was the first generation to grow up in« state general welfare" and consideredsocial security and material wealth are the norm of life. On the sidewalks of Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley (California) and Greenwich Village in New York, the first picturesque groups of scruffy, long-hairedloiteringboys and girls, and a new word came into use -"hippie".
In the wake of this movement, new “masters of thought” (including others) appeared.
Stanford University biologist professor Paul Ehrlich, famous for his apocalyptic book« Population bomb» (1968), where he predicted that throughout the 70s« hundreds of millions of people are waiting to die from hunger and cold in the darkness » . His ideas were picked up by a popular NBC TV presenter Johnny Carson in his famous"Tonight Show". Moreover, at the same timeMass protest movements began against American participation in the Vietnamese military campaign.
It is characteristic that the mostJohn Calhoun was not concerned with the problem of hunger and the reduction of natural resources as a result of overpopulation. He argued that crowding itself could destroy a society before famine had a chance to do so.
As an illustration of American attitudes towards"scientific controversy intellectual idiots" worth bringing quite well-known (and related to forecasts of 60-70-X years) a story about a supporter conflict"progress" economist Julian Simon with the above b and olog-Malthusian Paul Ehrlich.
Ehrlich was an ardent supporter of the Malthusian theory of resource exhaustion, according to which the resources needed by humanity grow in an arithmetic progression, while population growth occurs in a geometric progression. When his prediction did not come true, this did not bother the Stanford biologist at all: he simply postponed the date of the inevitable exhaustion of the earth's resources, then again and again.
It is significant that in1980 economist Julian Simon announced that he was ready to argue with the Malthusians that the price of any type of mineral would steadily decline,that he explained " increasing its reserves" . On behalf of his entire army of like-minded people, Paul Ehrlich picked up the thrown gauntlet.
In October of the same year, Ehrlich and Simon drew up a futures contract, according to which Simon agreed to sell to his opponent in 10 years a batch of five metals randomly selected by Ehrlich (copper, chromium, nickel, tin and tungsten) worth$ 1000 in 1980 prices. If the total value of the contract at the end of the specified period rises above the original amount, Simon will pay the opponent the difference if it falls below$ $1,000, Ehrlich will have to cover the difference.
Simon had no doubt about victory.The fact is that at that time the program of inflating the “dollar bubble” had just begun and the US Federal Reserve dollars themselves seemed to be of some kind of “value”, while the previousEconomic history has shown a steady decline in the prices of most major commodities.Therefore, at the beginning of Reaganomics,throughout the 1980s, the total price of 5 of these metals fell by more than 50%. In October 1990, Ehrlich admitted defeat and sent Simon a check for$ 576,07.
Additionally, it is worth pointing out the general trend towards the manipulation of “market” prices...
Thirdly , let us recall the general crisis situation that had developed by that time for the world system of capitalism, ppost-war thirty years of development whom seems to its ideologists a “golden age” of prosperity and carefree timeforwarding to " welfare state». Although in a truncated form, butin the Western world from the end of World War II to the early 70s, the "welfare state" really existed.
The basis of the new economic boom , under whose sign it passed« Keynesian thirtieth anniversary» , to a significant extent was the transfer of American conveyor technologies, from which before the war Europe was fenced off with protectionist barriers. At the same time, internal barriers to the movement of capital and goods within Europe itself were also removed. These transformations laid the foundation for a new economic growth, a true capitalist boom that lasted from 1945 to 1973. The basis for the rise lay partly in new technologies brought from the United States, but, first of all, economic growth was facilitated by the opening of the most solvent market in the world in the post-war period, the United States, for the European countries and Japan they controlled -so-called " Plan Marshal l A " Program " sweet halava" or " products in exchange for paper dollars"began to act.
However, the further socialization of profits called into question the meaning of existence of the capitalist elites themselves, who in every possible way resisted maintaining the concept of “general welfare” and they needed to find ways to turn society away from the ideas of the “welfare state”. All this led to the provocation of “controlled chaos” - from the “student revolutions” of 1968 in Paris in 1975 to fundamentally important om report e "Crisis of Democracy" "world government" represented by the "Trilateral Commission"- written Samuel Huntington, Michel Crozier And Joji Watanuki .
In the report, the “crisis of democracy” was understood as the threat of the removal of the capitalist elite from control, since democracy itself and the welfare state begin to work against it. The report stated that " The threat to democratic governance in the United States is not external.", its source is " the internal dynamics of democracy itself in a highly educated, mobile society characterized by a high degree of (political) participation».
Thus, the conclusion was drawn: it is necessary to promote non-involvement of the masses in politics through the development of apathy. Those. democracy, as a way of organizing power, was supposed to be moderated, including through the opinion of experts: “ In many cases, the need for expert knowledge, seniority, experience and special ability may outweigh the claims of democracy as a mode of constituting power.».
Those. in those conditions when nearby there was a socialist system at the peak of its economic power,The report identified the following threats to “democracy” for the capitalist elite: democracy itself, a highly educated society and a high degree of political participation of the masses in governance (sic!).
And the recipe for maintaining the power of the capitalist elite was: lack of involvement of the masses in politics, development of apathy, dullness of the masses and Creation « lured expertocracy » . After which the active implementation of these recipes for “preserving democracy” (the power of the “elites”) began.
(As a result, today even “popular riots” are already becoming a form of the coming to power of even more disgusting parts of the “elites” than they were elected even in the conditions of a “managed democracy”; in fact, such riots are directed against the social state - using Ukraine as the last example)
Thus, in the conclusions drawn by John Calhoun were based on e how much n and his experiment ah, but also common, primarily imposed by the “elites”,pessimistic mood of American society in the 60-70s of the twentieth century, to whom the results of the experiment with mice were presented as an imminent possibility affairs and future state of human civilization.At the same time, concepts such as reason, conscience and the very conditions of “heavenly conditions” created for mice, which in human understanding correspond to such a mortal sin as “idleness” (despondency, laziness, despair) were completely ignored..
Taken together, this shows that a group of global manipulators, emerging at that time from among the Judeo-Satanists, looked at human society and people themselves as primitive experimental animals - myay, and nothing more.
As a similar “analogue for society,” one can cite the example of geese, which are fattened for the production of “foo gras,” or pigs raised for lard, and at the same time assert that everything “ the future of humanity is widespread cirrhosis of the liver"or a piece of lard.
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Who and when came up with the Jewish god Yahoo Liber. H III . Our days: Kabbalah of the “Beatles project” , Institute of High Communitarianism, 05/28/2012
Experiment "Universe-25": how heaven became hell
As part of a social experiment, heavenly conditions were created for the mouse population: unlimited supplies of food and drink, the absence of predators and diseases, and sufficient space for reproduction. However, as a result, the entire colony of mice died out. Why did this happen? And what lessons should humanity learn from this?
American ethologist John Calhoun conducted a number of amazing experiments in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century. D. Calhoun invariably chose rodents as experimental subjects, although the ultimate goal of research was always to predict the future for human society. As a result of numerous experiments on rodent colonies, Calhoun formulated a new term, “behavioral sink,” denoting the transition to destructive and deviant behavior in conditions of overpopulation and crowding. John Calhoun's research gained some notoriety in the 60s, as many people in Western countries experiencing the post-war baby boom began to think about how overpopulation would affect social institutions and each individual in particular.
He conducted his most famous experiment, which made an entire generation think about the future, in 1972 in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The goal of the Universe-25 experiment was to analyze the effect of population density on the behavioral patterns of rodents. Calhoun built a veritable paradise for mice in the laboratory. A tank measuring two by two meters and a height of one and a half meters was created, from which the experimental subjects could not escape. Inside the tank, a constant temperature comfortable for mice was maintained (+20 °C), food and water were abundant, and numerous nests were created for females. Every week the tank was cleaned and kept constantly clean, all necessary safety measures were taken: the appearance of predators in the tank or the occurrence of mass infections was excluded. The experimental mice were under constant supervision of veterinarians, and their health status was constantly monitored. The food and water supply system was so well thought out that 9,500 mice could simultaneously feed without experiencing any discomfort, and 6,144 mice could consume water without experiencing any problems. There was more than enough space for mice; the first problems of lack of shelter could arise only when the population reached a population size of over 3840 individuals. However, there have never been such a number of mice in the tank; the maximum population size was noted at 2200 mice.
The experiment started from the moment four pairs of healthy mice were placed inside the tank, it took them very little time to get used to it, realize what kind of mouse fairy tale they had found themselves in, and begin to multiply at an accelerated rate. Calhoun called the development period phase A, but from the moment the first cubs were born, the second stage B began. This is the stage of exponential growth of the population in the tank under ideal conditions, the number of mice doubled every 55 days. Starting from the 315th day of the experiment, the population growth rate slowed down significantly, now the population doubled every 145 days, which marked the entry into the third phase C. At this point, about 600 mice lived in the tank, a certain hierarchy and a certain social life had formed. There is physically less space than there was before.
A category of “outcasts” appeared, who were expelled to the center of the tank; they often became victims of aggression. The group of “outcasts” could be distinguished by their bitten tails, torn fur, and traces of blood on their bodies. The outcasts consisted primarily of young individuals who had not found a social role for themselves in the mouse hierarchy. The problem of the lack of suitable social roles was caused by the fact that, in ideal tank conditions, mice lived for a long time; aging mice did not make room for young rodents. Therefore, aggression was often directed at new generations of individuals born in the tank. After the expulsion, the males broke down psychologically, showed less aggression, and did not want to protect their pregnant females or perform any social roles. Although from time to time they attacked either other individuals from the “outcast” society, or any other mice.
Females preparing to give birth became increasingly nervous because, as a result of increasing passivity among males, they became less protected from random attacks. As a result, the females began to show aggression, often fighting, protecting their offspring. However, paradoxically, aggression was not directed only at others; no less aggressiveness was manifested towards their children. Often females killed their young and moved to the upper nests, becoming aggressive hermits and refusing to reproduce. As a result, the birth rate dropped significantly, and the mortality rate of young animals reached significant levels.
Soon the last stage of the existence of the mouse paradise began - the D phase or the death phase, as John Calhoun called it. This stage was symbolized by the appearance of a new category of mice, called “beautiful”. These included males demonstrating uncharacteristic behavior for the species, refusing to fight and fight for females and territory, not showing any desire to mate, and prone to a passive lifestyle. The “beautiful” only ate, drank, slept and cleaned their skins, avoiding conflicts and performing any social functions. They received such a name because, unlike most of the other inhabitants of the tank, their bodies did not show signs of cruel battles, scars or torn fur; their narcissism and narcissism became legendary. The researcher was also struck by the lack of desire among the “beautiful” to mate and reproduce; among the last wave of births in the tank, “beautiful” and single females, refusing to reproduce and escaping to the upper nests of the tank, became the majority.
The average age of a mouse in the last stage of the mouse paradise was 776 days, which is 200 days higher than the upper limit of reproductive age. The mortality rate of young animals was 100%, the number of pregnancies was insignificant, and soon amounted to 0. The endangered mice practiced homosexuality, deviant and inexplicably aggressive behavior in conditions of excess vital resources. Cannibalism flourished with a simultaneous abundance of food; females refused to raise their cubs and killed them. The mice were rapidly dying out; on the 1780th day after the start of the experiment, the last inhabitant of the “mouse paradise” died.
Anticipating such a catastrophe, D. Calhoun, with the help of his colleague Dr. H. Marden, conducted a series of experiments at the third stage of the death phase. Several small groups of mice were removed from the tank and moved to equally ideal conditions, but also in conditions of minimal population and unlimited free space. No crowding or intraspecific aggression. Essentially, the “beautiful” and single females were recreated conditions in which the first 4 pairs of mice in the tank multiplied exponentially and created a social structure. But to the surprise of scientists, the “beautiful” and single females did not change their behavior; they refused to mate, reproduce and perform social functions related to reproduction. As a result, there were no new pregnancies and the mice died of old age. Similar similar results were observed in all resettled groups. As a result, all experimental mice died under ideal conditions.
John Calhoun created the theory of two deaths based on the results of the experiment. The “first death” is the death of the spirit. When newborns no longer had a place in the social hierarchy of the “mouse paradise,” there was a lack of social roles in ideal conditions with unlimited resources, open confrontation between adults and young rodents arose, and the level of unmotivated aggression increased. Growing population sizes, increasing crowding, increasing levels of physical contact, all this, according to Calhoun, led to the emergence of individuals capable of only the simplest behavior. In an ideal world, in safety, with an abundance of food and water, and the absence of predators, most individuals only ate, drank, slept, and looked after themselves. A mouse is a simple animal, for which the most complex behavioral models are the process of courting a female, reproducing and caring for offspring, protecting territory and young, and participating in hierarchical social groups. The psychologically broken mice refused all of the above. Calhoun calls this abandonment of complex behavioral patterns the “first death” or “death of the spirit.” After the first death occurs, physical death (the “second death” in Calhoun’s terminology) is inevitable and is a matter of short time. As a result of the “first death” of a significant part of the population, the entire colony is doomed to extinction even in the conditions of “paradise.”
Calhoun was once asked about the reasons for the appearance of a group of "beautiful" rodents. Calhoun drew a direct analogy with man, explaining that the key characteristic of man, his natural destiny, is to live under pressure, tension and stress. Mice, who gave up the fight and chose the unbearable lightness of existence, turned into autistic “beauties”, capable of only the most primitive functions, eating and sleeping. The “beauties” abandoned everything complex and demanding and, in principle, became incapable of such strong and complex behavior. Calhoun draws parallels with many modern men, capable of only the most routine, everyday activities to maintain physiological life, but with a spirit already dead. Which translates into a loss of creativity, the ability to overcome and, most importantly, to be under pressure. Refusal to accept numerous challenges, escape from tension, from a life full of struggle and overcoming - this is the “first death” in the terminology of John Calhoun or the death of the spirit, followed inevitably by a second death, this time of the body.
Perhaps you still have a question, why was D. Calhoun’s experiment called “Universe-25”? This was the scientist’s twenty-fifth attempt to create a paradise for mice, and all previous ones ended in the death of all experimental rodents...
Which I wrote about earlier are confirmed.
In 1968, ethologist John Calhoun, at the American National Institute of Mental Health, conducted an impressive experiment. Calhoun drew an analogy between the society of mice and human society and, using this similarity, tried to predict the future for all humanity. For this purpose, the scientist created the so-called “paradise” for white mice.
In laboratory conditions, a square pen of 2x2 m and a height of 1.5 m was built, from which the experimental subjects would not be able to escape. The structure maintained a favorable temperature, provided food and water in abundance, and was constantly replenished with materials for building nests. The rodents were under constant supervision of veterinarians who monitored their health.
All necessary safety measures were taken: the presence of predators and the spread of mass infections were excluded. The pen was cleaned once a week and kept clean at all times. That is, an ideal life-supporting space was created for mice. The scientist described his design as a “mouse utopia”, and called his experiment "Universe-25". The pen was designed for 3840 mice; let's jump ahead and note that the maximum population size during the experiment reached the level of 2200 individuals and only decreased after that.
When everything was prepared for the experiment, 4 pairs of rodents were released into the mouse paradise. From this moment, stage A begins - the period of development. After 55 days, the mouse families began to produce offspring. From the moment the first cubs appeared, phase B began. Every next 55 days, the number of rodents doubled. After only 315 days, the reproduction rate decreased, now the population doubled every 145 days - phase C. At this stage, there was much less space in the pen, and the number of mice exceeded 600 pieces. They managed to form their own hierarchy and a certain social life.
1) A caste of “outcasts” appeared, which consisted mainly of young individuals; they were driven into the center of the tank and constantly became victims of aggression. This was due to the fact that, under ideal pen conditions, mice lived for a long time and aging generations did not make room in the social niche for young individuals. That is why aggression was directed mainly at young rodents. They could be recognized by their bitten tails and torn fur. After the expulsion, the males broke down psychologically and did not want to protect their pregnant females.
2) Females became more aggressive because they themselves had to protect their offspring. Later, their aggression spread to the cubs, which they killed and moved to the upper nests, becoming hermits and refusing to reproduce.
As a result, the birth rate fell, and the mortality rate of young animals reached high levels. Stage D has entered the phase - the death of mouse paradise. At this stage, a new category of mice appeared - “beautiful”.
3) “Beautiful” - they called mice that showed behavior uncharacteristic of their species. They did not enter into a fight for the female and territory, and did not show any desire to reproduce. They only ate, drank, slept and preened their fur.
Experiment - “Universe-25”.
Ethologist John Calhoun.
Subsequently, “beautiful” and reclusive females became the majority. Average duration The life of mice was 776 days, which exceeded the reproductive age limit by 200 days. The number of pregnancies in the last phase of the “mouse paradise” was zero. Deviant behavior was provoked by homosexuality in mice. Also in mouse society, despite the abundance of food, cannibalism flourished. The population was dying out and on the 1780th day of the experiment the last inhabitant of the “mouse paradise” died. The mouse society has self-destructed. Heaven has turned into hell.
Experiment - “Universe-25”.
The experiment was called “Universe-25” because it was the 25th (last) attempt to create a mouse paradise, the result of which was like all the previous ones.
In this way, using the example of mouse society, the scientist was able to track the behavior of “society” in conditions of a well-fed, problem-free life. Finding a direct connection with people is not difficult. Here is an example of lumpen people, single mothers, domestic violence, causeless aggression, lazy citizens, sodomy and social survival.
During the winter, people experience hypersomnia, depressed mood, and a pervasive feeling of hopelessness. Even the risk of premature death is significantly higher in winter. Our biological clock is not in sync with our waking and working hours. Shouldn't we adjust our office hours to help improve our mood?
As a rule, people tend to see the world in gloomy colors when daylight hours become shorter and cold weather sets in. But changing our work hours to suit the seasons can help lift our spirits.
For many of us, winter, with its cold days and long nights, creates a general feeling of malaise. It becomes increasingly difficult to tear ourselves away from bed in the semi-darkness, and hunched over our desks at work, we feel our productivity draining along with the remnants of the midday sun.
For the small portion of the population experiencing full-blown seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it's even worse - the winter melancholy mutates into something much more debilitating. Patients experience hypersomnia, depressed mood, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness during the darkest months. Regardless of SAD, depression is reported more frequently in the winter, suicide rates increase, and work productivity declines in January and February.
While it's easy to chalk this all up to some nebulous idea of winter gloom, there may be a scientific basis for this despondency. If our body clocks are out of sync with our waking and working hours, shouldn't we adjust our office hours to help improve our mood?
"If our body clock says it wants us to wake up at 9:00 because it's a dark winter morning outside, but we get up at 7:00, we're missing out on a whole sleep phase," says Greg Murray, professor of psychology at Swinburne University. , Australia. Research in chronobiology - the science of how our bodies regulate sleep and wakefulness - supports the idea that sleep needs and preferences change during winter, and the restrictions of modern life can be especially challenging during these months.
What do we mean when we talk about biological time? Circadian rhythm is a concept that scientists use to measure our inner feeling time. It's a 24-hour timer that determines how we want to space out the various events of the day - and, crucially, when we want to get up and when we want to go to sleep. "The body likes to do this in sync with the biological clock, which is the master regulator of how our bodies and behavior relate to the sun," explains Murray.
There are a huge number of hormones and other chemicals, involved in regulating our biological clock, as well as many external factors. Particularly important is the sun and its location in the sky. Photoreceptors located in the retina, known as ipRGCs, are particularly sensitive to blue light and are therefore ideal for regulating the circadian rhythm. There is evidence that these cells play an important role in regulating sleep.
The evolutionary value of this biological mechanism was to facilitate changes in our physiology, biochemistry and behavior depending on the time of day. “This is precisely the predictive function of the circadian clock,” says Anna Wirtz-Justice, professor of chronobiology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. “And all living things have it.” Given the changing daylight levels throughout the year, it also prepares organisms for seasonal behavioral changes such as reproduction or hibernation.
Even though there hasn't been enough research into whether we would respond well to more sleep and different times awakening in winter, there is evidence that this may be the case. "From a theoretical perspective, the reduction in natural light in the morning in winter should contribute to what we call phase lag," says Murray. “And from a biological perspective, there is good reason to believe that this probably does happen to some extent. Delayed sleep phase means our circadian clock wakes us up later in the winter, which explains why it becomes increasingly difficult to fight the urge to set the alarm.”
At first glance, sleep phase delay might seem to indicate that we'll want to go to bed later in the winter, but Murray suggests that this trend is likely to be counteracted by an overall increased desire to sleep. Research shows that people need (or at least want) more sleep in the winter. A study conducted in three pre-industrial societies - without alarm clocks, smartphones and 09:00 to 17:00 workdays - in South America and Africa found that these communities collectively took an hour more naps during the winter. Given that these communities are located in equatorial regions, this effect may be even more pronounced in the northern hemisphere, where winters are colder and darker.
This sleepy winter pattern is at least partially mediated by one of the major players in our chronobiology, melatonin. This endogenous hormone is controlled by and in turn influences circadian cycles. This is a sleeping pill, which means its production will increase until we fall into bed. “People have a much broader melatonin profile in winter than in summer,” says chronobiologist Till Rönneberg. “These are the biochemical reasons why circadian cycles can respond to two different seasons.”
But what does it mean if our internal clocks don't match the times our schools and work schedules require? “The discrepancy between what your body clock wants and what your social clock wants is what we call social jetlag,” says Rønneberg. “Social jetlag is worse in winter than in summer.” Social jetlag is similar to what we are already familiar with, but instead of flying around the world, we are thrown off track by the time of our social demands - getting up for work or school.
Social jetlag is a well-documented phenomenon and can have serious consequences for health, well-being and how well we can function in life. everyday life. If it's true that winter produces a form of social jetlag, to understand what its effects might be, we can turn our attention to the people who are most susceptible to the phenomenon.
The first group of people for potential analysis includes people living at the western edges of time zones. Because time zones can cover large areas, people living on the eastern edges of time zones experience the sunrise about an hour and a half earlier than those living on the western edge. Despite this, the entire population must adhere to the same working hours, meaning many will be forced to get up before sunrise. Essentially, this means that one part of the time zone is constantly out of sync with the circadian rhythm. And while this may not seem like a big deal, it comes with a number of devastating consequences. People living in the western suburbs were more susceptible to breast cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease - diseases the researchers determined were primarily caused by chronic disruption of circadian rhythms, which occurs due to the need to wake up in the dark.
Another striking example of social jetlag occurs in Spain, which lives on Central European Time, despite being geographically aligned with the UK. This means that the country's time is set forward one hour and that the population must follow a social schedule that does not correspond to their biological clock. As a result, the entire country suffers from sleep deprivation - getting on average an hour less than the rest of Europe. This degree of sleep loss has been linked to increases in absenteeism, work-related injuries, and increases in stress and school failure across the country.
Another population that may exhibit symptoms similar to those of winter sufferers is the group that has a natural tendency to stay awake at night throughout the year. The average teenager's circadian rhythm is naturally shifted four hours ahead of that of adults, which means teenage biology is causing them to go to bed and wake up later. Despite this, for many years they have to fight with themselves to get up at 7 am and get to school on time.
And although these are exaggerated examples, could the exhausting consequences of an inappropriate work schedule all winter contribute to a similar, but less significant impact? This idea is supported in part by theories about what causes SAD. Although there are still a number of hypotheses about the exact biochemical basis of this condition, a significant portion of researchers believe that it may be caused by a particularly severe response to the desynchronization of the body clock with natural daylight and the sleep-wake cycle - known as delayed sleep phase syndrome.
Scientists now tend to think of SAD as a spectrum of characteristics rather than a condition that you either have or don't, and in Sweden and other countries in the northern hemisphere, up to 20 percent of the population is estimated to suffer from the milder winter melancholy. In theory, mild SAD could be experienced by the entire population to some degree, and only some would find it debilitating. "Some people don't react too emotionally to desynchronization," notes Murray.
At present, the idea of reducing working hours or moving the start of the working day to a later time during the winter period has not been tested. Even countries located in the darkest parts of the northern hemisphere - Sweden, Finland and Iceland - work in near-night conditions all winter. But chances are, if work hours more closely match our chronobiology, we'll work and feel better.
After all, US schools that moved the start of the day to later times to accommodate teens' circadian rhythms successfully showed an increase in the amount of sleep students received and a corresponding increase in energy. A school in England that delayed its start school day 8:50 to 10:00 found that sickness absences dropped sharply and student performance improved.
There is evidence that winter is associated with more lateness to work and school, and an increase in absenteeism. Interestingly, a study published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms found that such absenteeism is more closely related to photoperiods—the number of hours of daylight—than to other factors like weather. Simply allowing people to arrive later can help counteract this influence.
A better understanding of how our circadian cycles influence our seasonal cycles is something we could all benefit from. "Bosses need to say, 'I don't care when you come to work, come when your body clock thinks you've had enough sleep, because in this situation we both win,'" says Rønneberg. “Your results will be better. You will be more productive at work because you will feel how effective you are. And the number of sick days will decrease.” Since January and February are already our least productive months of the year, do we really have anything to lose?
