So it is a misconception to view natural selection as a process that perfects organisms. At the opposite extreme, natural selection is sometimes interpreted as a random process. This is also a misconception. The genetic variation that occurs in a population because of mutation is random — but selection acts on that variation in a very non-random way: genetic variants that aid survival and reproduction are much more likely to become common than variants that don’t. Natural selection is not random!
![A population undergoes random mutation and non-random selection](https://evolution.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/muts_selection.gif)
Learn more about random mutation or the process of natural selection.