> But does nature really select at all? Of course not.

> Back to semantics again, Pete.  Nature selects with a very firm hand

I think it's important to bear in mind that there is no nature which is doing the selection, there are no predetermined criteria. The selection process can only be described as a result, just like the result of a race. Everyone in a footrace wants to win, and almost all of them have the capacity to win, but only one does. She may be the best runner, or just had a better day than the others. "Natural selection is a metaphor," there is no selector.

1882  (S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot.)  The struggle for existence acts therefore in a certain sense similarly to the selection of the breeder; as the breeder developes only that which is suited to his own purposes... Thus, through what may be termed metaphorically Natural Selection by means of the struggle for existence,—forms are produced which are as well or even better adapted for the purpose of self-preservation than cultivated plants are for the purpose of man. -- OED Online

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