Ocampa Reproduction
Arthur E. Williams
> If the Ocampa can only have one child, that isn't enough to support the
> species. If I figure correctly, two people are replaced with one.
> Doesn't zero population growth require somewhere around two kids per couple.
>
> Personally I think the producers really screwed up royally.
Ouch. It sure would seem that way. Unless . . .
a] Males can also bear children, or
b] The Ocampa always have multiple births, or
c] Repeated fertilization attempts during the fertile period lead to
multiple births.
Ah, the joys of SF!
--
Arthur E. Williams everything you know
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Theodore Miller
the
>> species. If I figure correctly, two people are replaced with one.
>> Doesn't zero population growth require somewhere around two kids per
>>couple.
My theory (which I've been repeating in various places people have
brought up this question):
The Ocampa have three sexes: males; females like Kes, who can only
reproduce once; and a different type of female, who can reproduce
repeatedly. Everything Kes said in this episode (reproducing once,
implying having one child at a time rather than triplets, etc.) applies
to the females like her, while the other females are completely different,
and have lots of children, bringing up the average to two or more.
The analogy is bees. Bees have male drones, sterile female workers, and
fertile queen bees. Kes is a "worker bee": not completely sterile, but
limited to reproducing once. The other females, the "queen bees", could
be half the female population and have 3 or 4 children each, could be 10%
and have dozens of children each, or whatever.