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Reminds me of the Rat Utopia experiments where they gave rats all material possesions they could want but deprive them of social interaction.
Basically there were two outcomes for males:
  1. Become hyper violent
  2. Become feminine and obsessed with grooming
The ideal scenario imo would be to find some kind of purpose/community no matter how small. As an example, I commend my mother's actions. She moved to a totally new community to retire where she didn't know anyone. She made it a point to:
  • volunteer every Monday to help the homeless
  • join a book club
  • take up pilates
  • go to happy hour with girlfriends from the above
It really doesn't take that much just a little bit of effort putting yourself out there.
210 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs 3 Jan
They didn't deprive them of social contact at all, instead, the mice developed said traits after a given threshold was reached in regards to their population: The cage could sustain 10.000 mice I think, but after 400-ish, stated traits began to manifest.
The point of the experiment - If I remember correctly - is, that once a community grows too big, personal relations and roles and hierarchy falls apart, and things like above take place.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @cascdr 3 Jan
ah that's right. I had just heard about this variation this morning and got the conditions mixed up.
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Volunteering is a good idea
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too much testosterone or estrogen, no middle ground
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