“Of course, this implies the molecule can ‘think’, and alters it’s own structure for survival.”
No it doesn’t, any more than water turning to ice implies it can “think”. It is simply responding to the environmental conditions, according to the same laws that molecules always follow, which can basically be summed up as “assume the most efficient configuration to minimize energy loss”, aka, take the path of least resistance.
So.... if you curl up into a fetal ball inside your sleeping bag while out camping in winter, are you doing so because you are thinking, or just simply responding to the environmental conditions ?