In 1962, researcher John Calhoun began rodent population experiments to investigate the effects of social overcrowding in enclosed conditions. The results were surprising: the rapid emergence of an elite group of dominant males with aberrant sexual behavior, an increase of 90 percent in pup death, and the appearance of apathetic, asocial, and maladaptive behavior in the succeeding generation. Based on these observations, filmmaker Mike Freedman, enlisting expert opinion from Desmond Morris, Jeffrey McKee and others, explores the impact of human population growth on physical and psychological needs.