Consider a pencil balanced on its point. It has multiple positive feedback loops, (different directions to fall in) and falling far in one direction prevents falling in others. But once it has fallen, it just sits there. That said, evolution can settle into a strong local minimum, and just sit there.
Consider a pencil balanced on its point. It has multiple positive feedback loops, (different directions to fall in) and falling far in one direction prevents falling in others. But once it has fallen, it just sits there. That said, evolution can settle into a strong local minimum, and just sit there.
Mmm, good point. My hasty generalization was perhaps too hasty. Perhaps we need some sort of robust-to-different-initial-conditions sort of criterion.