3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

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David Jr.
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註冊時間: 週二 8月 19, 2003 12:07 am
來自: Lonely Planet
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3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 David Jr. »

3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)
When I first read about this topic, I thought this deserved to be discussed in YOYO while the article is quite lengthy too. For those who are willing to learn more, the link for full article is as follows, and you will definitely acquire more knowledge about the author's comparison between mouse utopia and human world with a lot of modern cases of Behavioural Sinks In Humans.
Have fun.
What Humans Can Learn From The Mice Utopia Experiment
http://www.returnofkings.com/36915/what ... experiment

Video:


Here I quoted "must-read" sentences before you come to the meeting.

In 1950, an American ethologist named John Calhoun created a series of experiments to test the effects of overpopulation on the behaviour of social animals. The animals which Calhoun chose for his experiments were mice (and later on rats). He chose rodents as these reproduce rapidly thus allowing him to observe the development of several generations of mice in a relatively short space of time.

Calhoun and his researchers found that in a space-limited/resource unlimited environment, the population of mice would explode; peak-out and then collapse to extinction. This test was replicated several times and it was found that these led to the same outcome each time. The reason for this phenomenon was found to derived from social decay which worsened with each generation. The social decay led to unrest in the environment, which in turn led to sub replacement fertility. It was concluded that nature has a limit in which social animals can interact.

John Calhoun’s experiments gained world-wide recognition and his expertise was sought after by government bodies such as NASA. They present a useful yet grim insight into what could be our own future, for no matter how many times Calhoun repeated the experiment, the results led to the same inevitable conclusion: extinction.

The Experiment
His team created a comfortable environment ideal for the mice. This was achieved by fitting a pen (box-shaped enclosure) with unlimited food and water. The room had space for up to 3000 mice. The room was closed off so that neither the mice could get out nor predators get in. By removing the risk of predation, the mice could grow in an environment free from external stress. The room was then compartmentalised into different units, this allowed Calhoun to identify how different social groupings formed.

Four pairs of mice were screened for diseases (four male and four female). Upon verifying that they were healthy they were introduced into the enclosure.

Calhoun observed the mice population over the course of the experiment. He noted down behavioural changes and population numbers. He found that there were four distinct phases of population change observed during the experiment. The first stage, named “Strive”, was a phase in which the mice explored and adjusted to their new habitat, set territories and created nests.

The second stage was named the ”exploit period”. During this stage the mice population exploded. Calhoun observed that some compartments became more populated than others, and therefore some units used more resources. It was also observed that some units started to become crowded.

The third phase was named the ”equilibrium phase”. During this phase, the mice population peaked at 2200 individuals, although there was space for 3000. During the third phase Calhoun observed the collapse of the mice civilisation. He noted that the new generations were inhibited since most space was already socially defined.

The mice showed different types of social dysfunctions. Some mice became violent. Males fought each other for acceptance, those that were defeated withdrew. Some males became repeated targets of attacks.

Calhoun had noted during his experiments:
“Many [female mice] were unable to carry pregnancy to full term, or to survive delivery of their litters if they did. An even greater number, after successfully giving birth, fell short in their maternal functions. Amongst the males the behaviour disturbances ranged from sexual deviation to cannibalism and from frenetic over-activity to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals would emerge to eat, drink and move about only when other members of the community were asleep. The social organisation of the animals showed equal disruption…”

[…]
“The common source of these disturbances became most dramatically apparent in the populations of our first series of three experiments, in which we observed the development of what we called a behavioural sink. The animals would crowd together in greatest number in one of the four interconnecting pens in which the colony was maintained. As many as 60 of the 80 mice in each experimental population would assemble in one pen during periods of feeding. Individual mice would rarely eat except in the company of other mice. As a result extreme population densities developed in the pen adopted for eating, leaving the others with sparse populations.”

[…]
“…In the experiments in which the behavioural sink developed, infant mortality ran as high as 96 percent among the most disoriented groups in the population.” – John Calhoun
Newer generations born in the now dysfunctional mouse utopia became withdrawn, spending their days grooming obsessively and dedicating their time solely to eating , drinking and sleeping. This generation, for all the emphasis they placed on grooming, would not reproduce. Moreover, these mice were noted to be unintelligent compared to previous generations.
“…the limit Calhoun imposed on his population [of mice] was space — and as the population grew, this became increasingly problematic. As the pens heaved with animals, one of his assistants described the rodent utopia as having become hell.”
The fourth phase was the decline. In this phase the population plummeted. The last mouse died 600 days after the experiment began.

Questions for discussion:
Session 1:

1. Is human a special and unique species on earth that set it above the other animals?
What is the difference between what we humans want & need and what other animals want & need?

2. If we replicated “Mice Utopia experiment” again, but this time in much bigger scale with only human (four healthy young male and four healthy young female) inside for a much longer period of time, would the outcome be different from the mice’s?

3. From what we learn about behavioral changes in this Mice Utopia Experiment, could you imagine the psychological conditions of overcrowded caged animals (such as chickens, cattle, pigs and so on) in today’s factory farming?

Session 2:
4. It seems the population condensation has strong correlation with social unrest and depopulation (sub replacement fertility) from mice utopia experiment.
Will we see the same happening in human world in big cities?
Or we human are much more capable of adjusting and adapting to different hardship than mice or other animals?

5. The phenomenon of Hikikomori (引き籠もり) and grass eaters (Soshoku kei Danshi) can be seen mainly in Japan. Why in Japan?
Is this happening to male only or it can happen to female?
Do you see the trend happening in Taiwan now or in future?
What can we do to reverse the phenomenon?

Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements
************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
最低消費: 80 元

注意事項:
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌,但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章,並仔細想過所有的問題,謝謝合作!

給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行,參加者應具備中等英語會話能力,對任一討論問題,能夠以5到10句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前,可以先來觀摩三次,觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。
最後由 David Jr. 於 週四 3月 09, 2017 11:49 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
Remember all what your mom has told you, and do the opposite.
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David Jr.
Vice President
文章: 257
註冊時間: 週二 8月 19, 2003 12:07 am
來自: Lonely Planet
聯繫:

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 David Jr. »

Some vocabularies in this article are listed:
1. ethologist: 動物行為學家
2. rodent: 嚙齒動物(如老鼠等)
3. sub replacement fertility: 少子化
4. sought after: wanted by many people and usually of high quality or rare
(因品質高或稀有而)熱門的,廣受歡迎的
5. litter: 一窩幼崽
6. frenetic: 發狂的,狂亂的
7. pathological: (行為)無法控制的,病態的,非理智的
8. lush: (地區)鬱鬱蔥蔥的,植被茂盛的
9. vendetta: 世仇;族間血仇;宿怨
10. flare: (暴力、疼痛或憤怒)爆發,突發,加劇
11. Pall: a negative feeling or mood
陰影,陰雲
12. Descend: (壞心情)遍佈
13. Folklore: 民間傳說;民俗
14. sustenance : food 食物
emotional or mental support 支持,支撐
15. Reminiscent: making you remember a particular person, event, or thing
使人想起…的;使人回憶起…的
16. Abhorrent: morally very bad
令人憎惡的;使人厭惡的;可惡的
17. Congregate: 聚集,集合
18. Precipitous: If a reduction or increase is precipitous, it is fast or great.
驟然的,急遽的
19. Promiscuous: (人)濫交的,淫亂的
20. Vapid: showing no intelligence or imagination
愚蠢的;無生氣的;單調的;乏味的;
21. Anthropocentric: considering humans and their existence as the most important andcentral fact in the universe 人類中心說的
22. Folly: the fact of being stupid, or a stupid action, idea, etc.
愚蠢;愚蠢的行為(或念頭等)
23. Hikikomori: ひきこもり」或者「引き籠もり
繭居族、蟄居族、閉門族
24. Soshoku kei Danshi (grass eater): 草食系男子(草食男子)
最後由 David Jr. 於 週四 3月 09, 2017 10:24 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
Remember all what your mom has told you, and do the opposite.
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Rock
YOYO member
文章: 2162
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Rock »

So the birth rate of Taiwan is one of the lowest, and stupid things happen more often than before.
Maybe I should stop grooming myself now? :shock:
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Iris Wu
YOYO member
文章: 894
註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Iris Wu »

Oh, Oh, Rock's belief, "sufficient necessity provided, no money needed, people will be doing what they like to do, happily live forever and the world will be just honky-donkey”, is challenged! :roll:

But I got two questions, first, if in a limited space, you started with 4-pairs of any animals, isn’t it easy to have “close breeding/inbreeding” (breed from closely related people or animals)? Isn’t that going to cause some kind of inbreeding coefficient? How do we know the extinction of mice isn’t coming from the results of inbreeding coefficient?
Secondly, is the earth a “limited space” for human beings? How do we define “limited space”? If the theory was proved,and the earth is a “limited space”, then the human beings are doomed to extinct! Well, maybe not, because we invented the “birth control”! :)
Luis Ko
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文章: 970
註冊時間: 週三 6月 06, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Luis Ko »

interesting topic really!! though i have no idea about genetics problem, the experiment looks quite familiar or, like "deja vu" to me. we human beings and all animals on earth and, those unidentified flying objects hovering in the sky, is the world we are living in part of some kind of experiment too? interesting.. :lol:
i might be a cynic and, a sceptic as well but, i'm definitely not a bad person!!
Kooper
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文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Kooper »

The mice experiment blew me away by its miserable outcomes; in a utopian world where predators are only imaginary or legendary and food supplies never get exhausted, mice ended up terminating themselves every time. How ironic! More surprisingly, what happened to the mice in utopia is shockingly similar to what’s going on in some of the developed countries, which seems to foretell a doomed future of human beings.

One might argues that men are more intelligent than mice and thus won’t repeat their mistakes. As a matter of fact, we humans are notorious for being individually brilliant but collectively acting irrationally. A recent proof is that even with catastrophic climate changes looming on the horizon, no effective measures have been taken worldwide to combat global warming.
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Kat C
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文章: 377
註冊時間: 週三 9月 08, 2010 10:31 am

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Kat C »

Since the experiment was done in 1950s, it's useful to look at later studies for comparison.

Here's an article from National Institute of Health:

https://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2 ... story1.htm
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Kooper »

Kat C 寫:Since the experiment was done in 1950s, it's useful to look at later studies for comparison.

Here's an article from National Institute of Health:

https://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2 ... story1.htm
Hi Kat, it's good to see you here! :ssmile: Thanks for sharing this informative article, which looks at the experiments from a different perspective.
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Rock
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文章: 2162
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Rock »

David Jr. ceased fire because he is the host today, but we found that he is also good at teaching-- the mice decay theory was perfectly delivered. Many many thanks to him.
The attendee list: Jason Jr., Jessica, Sherry, Rock, Gloria, Kooper, Rosie, Tom, Andy, Sabrina, Robert, Kat, Leon, Luis, Julian, Catherine, Iris, Stephen, Howard
Host: David Jr.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Kooper »

Rock 寫:David Jr. ceased fire because he is the host today, but we found that he is also good at teaching-- the mice decay theory was perfectly delivered. Many many thanks to him.
The attendee list: Jason Jr., Jessica, Sherry, Rock, Gloria, Kooper, Rosie, Tom, Andy, Sabrina, Robert, Kat, Leon, Luis, Julian, Catherine, Iris, Stephen, Howard
Host: David Jr.
Don't forget the new comer Will
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Rock
YOYO member
文章: 2162
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 3/11(Sat) Mice Utopia Experiment (Host: David Jr.)

文章 Rock »

Sigh, I'm aging. :?
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
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