I've been reading about the Mouse Utopia experiment and I feel like something important is missing when it comes to my understanding of it. The rats are given all the food and water they need, so they spend all their time eating, sleeping, grooming and the ones that can get any, mating. But what else were the rats expected to do? There was nothing for them to explore, no wheels for them to run on, no tiny televisions for them to watch. What did Calhoun expect them to do, form tiny mouse sports teams?

I feel like the human equivalent to the study would be closer to locking people in an all-you-can-eat buffet with literally nothing else to do, then come to the conclusion that it's overpopulation, not soul-crushing boredom that leads to the collapse of civilizations.