RED QUEEN'S RACE

This term has its' origins in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" when Alice hears the Red Queen say "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

By extension, the phrase has come to be commonly used to describe the continual competition that occurs between the opposing elements in a particular arena.

For general application and simplicity's sake, one element is normally characterized as 'the offense' and the other as 'the defense'. In any such competition, changes made by the offense result in responsive changes made by the defense which result in changes made by the offense and so on. This cycle is continuous and unending.

By the nature of the cycle's definition, the advantage always lies with the offense because their changes force the defense to react. And while the defense is responding to the last change, the offense is developing their next change.

Examples of Red Queen races include:

• Weapons technology - "bigger, smarter bombs" vs. "harder, deeper bomb shelters"
• Biology - "insects" vs. "insecticides"
• Medicine - "pathogen mutation" vs. "antigen development"
• Marketing - "Competitor A" vs. "Competitor B"
• Software - "virus" vs. "anti-virus"
• And, of course, "spammer" vs. "anti-spam filter"