A Speculation on r and K Strategies

At first, you might think of the adoption of r strategies by Sarah Palin and family as a step downward. After all, we usually think of r strategies in terms of bacteria, oysters, or mice. On the other hand, evolution does not always run in just one direction.

You can think of the ape to human transition as the partial adoption of r strategies. Mama ape will usually raise just one child at a time. Human mothers are likely to raise several at a time, even if they rarely give birth at once. In addition, human infants are much more altricial than is the norm among primates. (This is not completely original but I'm not sure where I read it.)

ObSF: The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, a look at what type of civilization an intelligent species with r strategies might develop.

Addendum: We Support Lee has similar comments.

Addendum II: Cory Doctorow compared r strategies to open-source publishing in “Think Like a Dandelion .”