On the breadth of the horizon. Column in KompyuterrOnline #57
The specificity of behavior management characteristic of our species includes not only the use of an advanced model of reality. This model expands the horizons of planning as broadly as possible.
In this column I would like to invite you to see common features in several examples drawn from quite different fields. I will talk about strategies in biology, economics, and behavior; please do not be surprised by the topic shifts.
For many biologists it is clear that when discussing ways in which living systems adapt to their environment, it is very useful to consider the diversity of adaptive strategies. Unfortunately, a universal classification of adaptive strategies in biology has not yet been developed. The most developed issue is the division into r‑ and K‑strategies, proposed in 1967 by Robert MacArthur and Edward Wilson, outstanding American ecologists. MacArthur died in 1972, while Wilson is still alive. The great myrmecologist (ant specialist) and one of the founders of sociobiology is now 82 years old. He continues to work intensively and even finds the strength to revise his own past views (see, for example, here).
I digressed. I need to explain what r‑ and K‑strategies are; this will be example No. 1 in this column. This topic is discussed in more detail, for instance, in this section of our ecology textbook. Here is the figure from there.