THE OMNIVORE'S ADVANTAGE

Every organism/system consumes energy to live/operate.  There are a variety of different strategies for optimizing or maximizing the consumption of energy, but they boil down into two categories:

1. The generalist (aka The Omnivore).   Able to consume a wide variety of energy although at an efficiency penalty.
2. The specialist.   Able to access and consume a very narrow type of energy in a highly efficient way.

In periods of environmental (the overarching system within which these organisms/systems live and compete) stability, an ever greater number of specialists emerge and potentially dominate.  Why?  Specialization can:

• offer access to extremely dense and high value sources of energy 
• it can provide protection from competitors (few competitors will have the specialization necessary to access it)

However, when the environment is in a period of rapid flux, specialists can rapidly become extinct. Simply: its favorite sources of energy can dry up or become inaccessible as conditions change.  In contrast, the generalist or omnivore, can thrive when the environment is in flux.  Given their ability to access and consume nearly anything (despite, sometimes steep, efficiency penalties) they will nearly always find a source of energy to subsist on even if big changes have occurred.  They thrive at the same time the specialists die.

So, what does this mean to those of us thinking about resilience?  

We're living through a period of rapid change.  Flux.  Things are going get very different much quicker than most people assume.  As a result, we need to adopt more of an omnivore strategy in regards to nearly everything we do.  For example:

• Skills.  The more specialized your role/job, the less valuable and/or useless you are in the future.  Re-skill.  Broaden your knowledge.  There will be few things more pathetic (albeit hilarious) than seeing a former $500 an hour lawyer or Wall Street Tycoon in a breadline.
• Investments.  An omnivorous investment strategy isn't hedging.  Hedging still assumes most of what you own is still considered a financial asset.  An omnivorous investment strategy puts resources into communities and technologies that will be there even when most financial assets are imploding.