Biological life is suboptimal because evolution is a collection of random processes optimized by natural selection. Thus, as evolution has “explored” the range of possible genetic traits, it has depended heavily on chance and the influence of particular environmental factors. Also, the fact that this process is gradual means that evolution can achieve a design only if all the intermediate steps toward a given feature also lead creatures to be successful in their environments. So there are surely some potential traits that would be very useful but that are inaccessible because the incremental
...more
