> For any living system that has had sufficient time to adapt to its environment, it can generally be assumed that the system has reached a local optimum for that environment
Really? Think about humans, in our current environment, can you not think of any adaptations to our bodies that would improve us as a species? If in 100 million years our environment doesn't change at all (hypothetical) will we not evolve any more?
Humans have not been in an unchanging environment for the past several thousands years at least, and by their nature (constant technological development, etc.) are unlikely to be so ever again.
Hence I said hypothetical, I wasn't predicting the future, just the fact that were we to be in an unchained environment the chances are we would evolve to become improved, rather than stay the same.
Really? Think about humans, in our current environment, can you not think of any adaptations to our bodies that would improve us as a species? If in 100 million years our environment doesn't change at all (hypothetical) will we not evolve any more?