To say that an organism is “trying to maximize expected fitness,” applies in a broad sense to all evolved creatures, and as such is compatible with anything that any evolved creature does, including obviously fitness-reducing acts. In this broad sense, the “trying to maximize expected fitness” theory does a poor job of constraining anticipations compared to the theory that makes reference to the actual explicitly-represented goals of the organism in question. If we interpret “trying to maximize expected fitness” in a narrower sense in which organisms explicitly try to gain fitness, then it is obviously false (see, e.g., teenage suicides, women who have abortions when they could put the baby up for adoption, &c., &c.).
ADDENDUM: Maybe this phrasing will help:
To say that an organism is “trying to maximize expected fitness,” applies in a broad sense to all evolved creatures, and as such is compatible with anything that any evolved creature does, including obviously fitness-reducing acts. In this broad sense, the “trying to maximize expected fitness” theory does a poor job of constraining anticipations compared to the theory that makes reference to the actual explicitly-represented goals of the organism in question. If we interpret “trying to maximize expected fitness” in a narrower sense in which organisms explicitly try to gain fitness, then it is obviously false (see, e.g., teenage suicides, women who have abortions when they could put the baby up for adoption, &c., &c.).