Physics · Dynamics
RedQueenRace#4c87
In co-evolving niches, adapting keeps you in place rather than moving you ahead
Mechanism
Predators, prey, parasites, competitors and pathogens adapt to one another at the same time. Each adaptation changes the niche the others occupy, so fitness gained by one party is cancelled by the others' response. Extinction risk stays roughly constant over time: no strategy wins permanently, though better and worse strategies still exist.
Invariants
- The niche changes because of the occupants' own adaptations, not only from outside
- Stopping adaptation lowers relative fitness even if absolute performance is unchanged
Failure modes
- Reading constant change as progress when it only holds position
- Assuming a dominant strategy exists and can be found once
Where this came from
- Research What is complexity?
Meetup: What is complexity? - BraInference meetup, 25 August 2026
People: Utku Arslan, Adam Timlett, Henrik Westerberg, Arne Steemers
- Research How the most successful founders take their strategies from biology.
Meetup: How the most successful founders take their strategies from biology., 22 September 2026
People: Arne Steemers, Adam Timlett
Used by
Identity
The name is the hash of the definition. Change a word and it becomes a different pattern.
- Sema ID
sema:RedQueenRace#mh:SHA-256:4c871b1148541320528ef16af91edb90e5a16a5d4f27ea4e136e897d1a30922e- Reference
RedQueenRace#4c87- Ring
- 1
- Tier
- 1