Earlier quoted context omitted.
>furthermore, the evolutionary pressure for an improved rubisco is so immense that if it were possible we'd probably see it in nature. I disagree with this logic, as one could apply it to any theoretical biologic feature. The fact that random-walking evolutionary processes haven't stumbled upon a more optimal solution has nothing to do with whether such a solution exists or is easy to find.
Specifically, the gradient crawl that evolution gives must yield viable organisms among every step. If something is within a local maxima that cannot be climbed out of while remaining viable, then evolution can't do anything by definition. That doesn't mean that a better global maxima doesn't exist, and an organism engineered to a better state.
Re: Self-healing material can build itself from carbon in the air
#81In such incredibly high-dimensional landscapes, such a thing as "local maxima" basically does not exist (you need a local minimum in every single dimension at once). Not to mention that in this case it's not a continuous fitness landscape - you can make wild jumps in each evolutionary step, so the situation of "maximum that can't be climbed out of under given constraints" is even harder to come by.