Hm, difficult. I think the minimal required trait is the ability to learn patterns that map outputs to deferred reward inputs. So an organism that simply reacts to inputs directly would not be an optimizer, even if it has a (static) nervous system. A test may be if the organism can be made to persistedly change strategy by a change in reward, even in the immediate absence of the reward signal.
I think maybe you could say that ants are not anthill optimizers? Because the optimization mechanism doesn’t operate at all on the scale of individual ants? Not sure if that holds up.
Hm, difficult. I think the minimal required trait is the ability to learn patterns that map outputs to deferred reward inputs. So an organism that simply reacts to inputs directly would not be an optimizer, even if it has a (static) nervous system. A test may be if the organism can be made to persistedly change strategy by a change in reward, even in the immediate absence of the reward signal.
I think maybe you could say that ants are not anthill optimizers? Because the optimization mechanism doesn’t operate at all on the scale of individual ants? Not sure if that holds up.