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1) Neither phenotype nor genotype is completely static throughout the lifespan of a higher level organism. So there is some ability for an organism to react to pressures beyond just survival + mate selection.
2) An individual body doesn't "know". It's a statistical experiment run at large scale over generations without only a tiny bit of adaptation within any particular specimen. (see #1).
So you are describing 'mutation' then , yes ??. I don't have a problem with that. Any Adaption is already 'hard-coded' into the genome.
If 'mutations' are a randomised statistical occurrence, that is at odds with what the original commenter seems to be implying as an ' evolutionary developmental process' at the behest of an individual organism.
I think one would have to use a very liberal definition of mutation. #1 is not a "bit flip" due to a copying error or a cosmic ray.
So what exactly are you describing then as '... an ability for an organism to react to pressures' ??, bc as i understand it and in the context of this conversation, we're talking about 'evolutionary development' , ie dna 'mutation or change' , are you now only actually meaning 'adaptation' (which is already hard-coded at the cellular level) , which isn't a dna mutation ?? ....
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