Safety, while comforting, can be a deceptive master. The 1960s mouse paradise experiment illustrates this perfectly. Researchers created an ideal world for mice, providing them with all the essentials: abundant food, shelter, and companionship. At first, it seemed like a utopian success as the colony flourished. However, with time, a darker side emerged. Female mice turned unusually aggressive, while many males lost the drive to court females altogether. The result? The colony perished in just about 700 days. This serves as a stark reminder: adversity, in the right doses, is essential for growth and balance.

In other words, too much safety and not enough challenge will cause collapse. As a civilization, we've overcorrected for safety with not enough challenge. Hence, we have the lowering birthrates we have now.