Evolution is not optimizing anything. What's happening in the biosphere is a process of mutation & selection, it's not optimization towards any particular goal or objective. Furthermore & slightly more abstractly, b/c of conservation of mass & energy, what's actually happening is re-organization of existing biomass into different life forms enabled by solar radiation.
That's a rather strong statement, but incorrect in both result and formulation.
How is mutation and selection entail it's not optimization? Your motivating the lack of a goal for a process by describing it's composition. It seems like a logical (Non sequitur fallacy) and categorical erorr.
For reference
> optimization = the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives
What's the selection selecting from, what's evolution evolving towards?
Moreover, you motivate with conservation. Conservation is an optimization criterion.
I suppose I fail to see why evolution through natural selection is not optimizing. That was Darwin's big idea, right? That given heredity, selection, and variation you end up with life forms we'd consider optimized for their environments?
Or do you mean that optimization by definition must include intent, and evolution as a mindless process has no intentionality?
Evolution has no goals, not even survival. Evolution is something that happens. Some species survive for a while, others don't.
Think of it like saying water has the goal of flowing down the mountain along the path of least resistance. Of course it doesn't, it's just something that happens. There's no goal.
