R vs K selection in men and women – Oversimplified

January 14, 2014

I read raywolf’s article over at Return of Kings, “The Brain Science Behind Game Explains Why Men Are Wolves And Girls Are Nervous Rabbits” and thought a couple of things about it. It’s a good read but I think he’s missing something.

If you didn’t read the article, here’s the tl;dr. First of all, raywolf gets the gist of what it means to be a calm K-type with a healthy amygdala vs an r-type in a constant defensive panic mode. I think he does a great job here.

If you’re unfamiliar with r-selection and k-selection, read up on Anonymous Conservative and look at this little graphic:

Now, this is where he goes awry: raywolf tries to put the K and R selection types into the context of game, painting alpha males as calm K-selected individuals and painting women as neurotic r-selected types. When dealing with the majority of modern women, it may certainly seem that all of them are neurotic r-selected squirrels. I follow his reasoning, however, I think raywolf is incorrect in his simplification.

First of all, while the female amygdalae (plural of amygdala) are smaller than healthy male amygdalae, the amygdala of a healthy female simply needs more external cues of reassurance that everything is OK, such as a calm demeanor, a strong arm to hide behind from danger, etc. This is why women enjoy the company of strong, calm and collected men – the quintessential “alpha male” persona. This is healthy to want for a normal woman.

On the other hand, a woman who doesn’t seek the company and safety of a strong, trustworthy “alpha” is developmentally damaged, which is why feminists hate strong male figures. Their fathers walked out on them or were otherwise weak figures in their lives, and so their brain rewired them to be more “strong and independent” sothey don’t need no man. This leaves them high and dry because their tiny amygdalae are not up for the challenge.

Secondly, a more sensitive fear response would allow a woman to evade any threat of imminent danger more quickly than men since she is less likely to be able to fend for herself. Because women tend overwhelmingly to be the sex that carries the babies during pregnancy it makes sense that they be the first to get the fuck out of Dodge when something goes awry.

Third, while women do tend to have smaller amygdalae than men, there are K-selected women with healthy amygdalae. These are the homemakers, the housewives, the women who don’t need “feminist” empowerment (read: government coddling) to be independent and empowered. They aren’t as easily swayed by populist thought and will be more likely to be willing and able to care for their young, unlike r-selected neurotic women who will dig out a rusty coathanger at the slightest suspicion of pregnancy-related tummyaches and demand that your government pay for her birth control.

Anyway… in one respect raywolf may be correct that women tend to pile onto the liberal side of things because it appeals to their more delicate nature, however I will have to state that part of this is a side effect of being neurotic due to not being involved with strong masculine men. The most stalwart feminists and leftist women suffer from the long-term ramifications of daddy issues, and not having that fatherly bulwark against the storm to let them grow into healthy delicate flowers. The only thing that survives these battles are weeds, and that is essentially what these women become.

Where do r-selected men fit into this? They’re the eternal betas, the white knights, the unsure closet cases. At their worst they let their ego-based emotions dictate everything, they throw hissy fits, they lie, manipulate and steal and always read any trivial thing as “someone out to get them.” Barring some nutritional deficiency that screwed up their amygdalae in childhood, the r-selected male likely had some strong emotional distress during the formative years, rewiring their brain in a defensive manner.

These are the same types who pine for leaving the friend zone of some girl that hardly cares for them and sees them for the beta they are, and these hopeless betas never understand their own situation, blaming it on this or that because their ego is too fragile to admit the problem is theirs.

Some r-selected neurotic types have some of what we call “alpha male” and “dark triad” characteristics which is why some of these more effete and fucked-up men can pull girls despite being total narcissistic+sociopathic divas with the emotional stability of a Saturn VUE driving at freeway speed on a slight turn.

I suppose in trying times like war, famine or disaster, K-selection survives, resurfaces and usurps r-selection while r-selected types die off. Otherwise it’s a slow uphill battle to recover society-wide K dominance.