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comment by Magnnus
Magnnus  ·  3391 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: New type of pentagon discovered with the ability to tile the plane

Metaheuristics search a problem space to find an exact solution (total plane tiling). In order to search that space, they need direction. The "almost plane tiling" is the direction. You said it would be difficult for a genetic algorithm to find a solution because the set of solutions is very small, but that's missing the point of a metaheuristic.

It's the difference between climbing a hill and a cliff. Either way the goal is at the top, but the hill is easier to get up.