The space of possible configurations can be simply huge, but still you can usually find a reasonable (not optimal) one after only a dozen or hundred attempts.
>"single ionization events can kill a cell’s ability to reproduce (or worse)"
Maybe I don't know what you mean by single ionization event, if it is mutating a single basepair then I doubt it.
I think your other point is probably related to sparsity of viable vs. non-viable configurations and the steps needed to get between them. Of course that's complicated by the contextual interdependecies (are you in a mammal's womb or a submerged egg sac) but to your point you don't need to climb mount everest in a single step. Just get from one solution to another and the viable ones will tend to outweigh the less viable.
Appreciate the help reframing it a bit. I'm still thinking it's too complex but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel. :P
The space of possible configurations can be simply huge, but still you can usually find a reasonable (not optimal) one after only a dozen or hundred attempts.
>"single ionization events can kill a cell’s ability to reproduce (or worse)"
Maybe I don't know what you mean by single ionization event, if it is mutating a single basepair then I doubt it.