I didn't mean to say that evolution avoids local optima, but I wantend to say that it doesn't have to get "trapped", in the sense that it was able to produce such complex organisms as humans..
Because of the incremental nature (it can't think moves ahead) only a tiny percentage of all viable life forms can be produced by evolutionary processes. Species forged by their ruthless struggle for survival. Maybe humanity will be the first species to escape evolutionary constraints, but maybe humanity is like the many other species that burn brightly but briefly. The universe seems to be cold and empty and devoid of life. Perhaps evolution is very good at producing cockroaches and not that good at creating intelligent life.
