Goal-directed behaviour does not require consciousness.
Many biological systems act in ways that contribute to maintaining their continued existence without possessing awareness, intentions, or reflective thought. Bacteria move toward nutrients, plants grow toward light, immune systems respond to pathogens, and developing organisms regulate growth and repair. These activities are organised around outcomes that contribute to viability even though they are not consciously chosen.
In APS, biological goals arise from viability-oriented organisation rather than from conscious intention. Living systems must continually maintain the conditions required for their own persistence. As a result, activities that acquire resources, regulate internal conditions, repair damage, avoid harmful circumstances, or support reproduction become biologically significant because they contribute to continued viability.
Conscious organisms may represent their goals explicitly, but explicit awareness is not what makes an activity goal-directed. Goal-directedness emerges whenever the organisation of a living system is structured around maintaining viability and organised persistence.
APS perspective: Biological goals do not originate in consciousness. They arise from the viability-oriented organisation characteristic of living systems.