Universe 25

In the 1960s, ethologist John B. Calhoun designed one of the most disturbing behavioral experiments ever conducted: Universe 25.

The setup looked like a utopia.
Unlimited food. Unlimited water. No predators. Stable climate. Guaranteed shelter.

Only one thing was finite: space.

At first, the population grew rapidly. Everything worked.
But long before reaching the physical limits of the environment, something broke.

Not biologically.
Socially.

Aggression increased. Social bonds collapsed. Parenting failed. And a group Calhoun called “the beautiful ones” emerged: individuals who only ate, slept, and groomed themselves, avoiding meaningful interaction altogether.

Reproduction stopped.
Life continued — without projection.

The creative connection

Universe 25 didn’t collapse because of scarcity.
It collapsed because of relational saturation.

When symbolic space disappears — unclear roles, constant exposure, no margins, no silence — action loses meaning. And when action loses meaning, creativity shuts down.

Creativity requires gaps:

• non-functional spaces

• unclaimed time

• unscripted zones

• margins without expectations

Universe 25 shows what happens when those gaps vanish.

This is not a demographic prophecy.
It’s a cultural warning.

In societies dense with stimuli, metrics, opinions, and demands, the real danger is not conflict — it’s creative apathy. Automatic life. Beauty without transformation.

The question isn’t how many we are.
It’s how much symbolic space we still have to create.