Darwin's reason for using the phrase "natural selection" was to draw an important analogy with "artificial selection" as is done by pigeon-breeders. It is clea

Darwin's reason for using the phrase "natural selection" was to draw an important analogy with "artificial selection" as is done by pigeon-breeders. It is clear that the intelligence of the breeder does not somehow directly reshape the pigeon. Rather, the way the breeder expresses his preferences is to SELECT the traits he is looking for. The only understanding required to see how this works in the case of natural selection is to see that nature analogously 'selects' some things over others, without intelligence on nature's part. In other words, the breeder is a "fitness landscape" for his captive pigeons. The natural fitness landscape may not choose the same things as a pigeon fancier would, but it does 'choose' some things like traits involved in surviving to breeding age, attracting mates, having sufficiently many healthy children, etc. Although it is natural, it is still selection. This is not "intelligent evolutive design" just because a human being is involved in the experiment. Evolution is evolution and other members of the same species, or even members of other species, are part of the natural environment imposing selection pressure.