#satisficing

A sequence plate on drafting vellum showing a ball descending a brachistochrone curve at six successive stroboscopic positions, racing a straight-line chute drawn as a thin reference beside it, one position accented in bronze

Physics Optimizes, Evolution Satisfices: Two Kinds of Perfection

A light ray takes the fastest path through any medium; a falling body traces the straightest one spacetime allows. Evolution does neither — it hill-climbs from whatever the last generation left behind, scars included, and the result is mistaken for design.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 31, 2026 · 11 min read

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