How is mutation and selection entail it's not optimization? Your motivating the lack of a goal for a process by describing it's composition. It seems like a logical (Non sequitur fallacy) and categorical erorr.
For reference
> optimization = the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives
What's the selection selecting from, what's evolution evolving towards?
Moreover, you motivate with conservation. Conservation is an optimization criterion.
Or do you mean that optimization by definition must include intent, and evolution as a mindless process has no intentionality?
I'm just not sure what you're driving at.
Think of it like saying water has the goal of flowing down the mountain along the path of least resistance. Of course it doesn't, it's just something that happens. There's no goal.
I certainly have a goal when selecting my partner and creating my offspring; at the very least that they’re happy and healthy.
And the flux of geothermal and chemical energy
A shark is pretty damn optimized bunch of molecules to survive in water, would you not agree?
I suppose this boils down to your definition of "optimize".