A 1968 experiment where mice were provided a utopian environment, suggests some warnings for a post-AGI future of plenty. Despite unlimited food, accommodation and no disease, the mice stopped breeding & the population died out.

Submission Statement

I’ve always been fascinated by how much of human society is dictated by our animal nature. The constant need for strong leaders as a method to organize, seems very much how pack animals and herds behave too. That books like Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ and Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ are so universal across cultures and history, suggests much of this behavior is encoded as a genetic level.

All the same, humans are sometimes completely different from their animal nature, and at least have the self-awareness to transcend these limits. Humans can successfully organize into groups that have no parallel in the animal world like, monasteries, space station crews, political and activist organizations, etc

Still, this experiment called Universe 25 is worth thinking about. As OP points out it is in line with the direction of travel for AI and robotics. Of course just because it happens to mice doesn’t mean it happens to men. However very often we still can’t transcend this animal part of our nature, so perhaps some of what has happened to the mice here is a warning for the future.

> Still, this experiment called Universe 25 is worth thinking about

Universe 25’s problem is overpopulation, not those listed in the post.

Overpopulation causes the mice to encounter rivals too often so they become aggressive more and those around also end up stressed due to the tense atmosphere.

So just sterilise the mice before they overpopulate Universe 25 and it will remain an utopia.

Universe 25 had mice going berserk but some did not so the mice would not die out, though the suffering is worse than if there was no overpopulation issue.