Iterate

Biological Parallel

The immune system demonstrates true iteration: during infection, B cells undergo somatic hypermutation—millions of antibody variants are generated, tested against the pathogen, and surviving cells proliferate. Each generation is 2-5% better at binding. Bacteria iterate antibiotic resistance through daily mutation cycles. In contrast, African cichlids radiated into 500+ species not through iteration but branching—parallel experiments in different niches simultaneously. Iteration implies incremental improvement toward a known goal; evolution combines iteration with branching. Silicon Valley often confuses sequential improvement with parallel experimentation.