Constrained optimization is the art of compromise between conflicting objectives. This is what design is all about. To find fault with biological design - as Stephen Jay Gould regularly does - because it misses some idealized optimum is therefore gratuitous. Not knowing the objectives of the designer, Gould is in no position to say whether the designer has proposed a faulty compromise among those objectives.

Summary

This quote highlights the concept of constrained optimization in the context of design. It suggests that design involves making compromises between conflicting objectives. Therefore, critiquing biological design for not achieving an idealized outcome, as done by Stephen Jay Gould, is unnecessary. Since the objectives of the designer are unknown, Gould lacks the ability to determine if the compromises made by the designer are flawed. This quote implies that evaluating design without a complete understanding of its constraints and objectives is unwarranted.

Topics