Pit of Despair

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a baby monkey in the pit of despair.

The Pit of Despair was the ultimate torture-device created by the mad scientist known as Harry Harlow and is considered by many as one of the most cruel devices to be created - it also put Harlow down in history as a monster due to the fact it was largely used by him to relieve personal stress and unhappiness rather than as a valid scientific tool (though it did ultimately serve to improve knowledge on psychology).

The device was a cage that was completely sealed, with no means of escape and only one entrance - Harlow would put baby monkeys into the cage and seal it shut, isolating them for up to a year and observing as the animals went into a panic, then ultimately gave into despair - even the happiest monkey was recorded to huddle in the corner of the cage after a while and became psychotic.

All monkeys exposed to the Pit of Despair were driven irreversibly insane and could not function properly, the worst part is it is believed Harlow deliberately made the experiment as torturous as possible not just to study despair but also to watch the monkeys suffer due to personal problems in his own life.