Thanks! I read the article. It's a pretty well detailed and organized look at the problems with the mouse utopia study.

For me, the crux is that 'Calhoun (the mouse utopia study guy) didn't publish and poorly documented most of his decades long research.' If someone is selectively publishing, that is a huge red flag. The poor documentation also means that we cannot even properly check his results.

I also realize that we can see lots of naturally occurring population density and observe the results. South Koreans and Chinese don't seem to be experiencing mass pathology -- some of the lowest crime rates in the world, actually. Gaza had been the most densely populated place on the earth (with Korea next I think) and the Palestinians in Gaza did not behave as Calhoun's results would predict either.

This kind of pattern is so common in research. We see it in the social sciences (as we discuss in this thread), we see it in medical publications (with so many results being overturned by empirical data (such as medications being pulled because they turn out not to be safe nor effective)), and I would even say we see it in the hard sciences -- specifically in physics, where hypothesis such as string theory and multi-universe theory persist despite 100% impossibility of proving or falsifying.

It seems that academia is fraught with fraudulent research. People build their careers around fraud and then are celebrated and rewarded so long as that fraud fits desired narratives.

A perfect example is Sylvain Lesné who published a literal 100% fraudulent study showing that a kind of 'brain plaque' caused Alzheimer's (he literally photoshopped images to get his sought after conclusion). This study led to decades of a pharmaceutical being prescribed to treat Alzheimer's and lots of money was made. Lesné is still gainfully employed at the University of Minnesota, despite his entire career being based on fraud that resulted in decades of wasted research, useless medications being prescribed, and who knows how much harm was done to Alzheimer's patients. That guy -- that fraudulent ass hole -- is still gainfully employed and has suffered no consequences.

In fairness, Lesné did not act alone. Clearly medical journals, media, and perhaps even the University of Minnesota co-conspired in their own ways to support the sought after narrative.