Great point, muir_redwoods. The Darwinist conception of evolution scrupulously avoids both the problem of "beginning" and the problem of "end" (that is, of purpose). It jumps into the water "midstream," as it were, asking no questions about the source of the flowing river, nor of its eventual destination. Thus the true derivation of any reliable "sense of direction" is rendered impossible, effectively on principle.
Which is why I continue to suppose that Darwinist evolutionary theory -- classical or "neo" -- is a flattened, reduced view of reality that willingly loses or sacrifices all details of actual reality that do not fit into the scheme of its (flattened, reduced) presuppositions. Most of the details of real life get leached out of consideration altogether in such a "regime" of thought.... Or so it seems to me. FWIW.
And yet it seems clear the observable pattern of universal, physical evolution already gives the lie to this line of reasoning, or of method.... For the Universe seems to have had a beginning; and a beginning implies an end (or goal). This is simple, basic Logic 101.
Thank you so very much for your very fine post, muir_redwoods!