> even though evolution is contingent at a local level (such as a specific protein sequence or the shape of a flower), it is remarkably predictable at a global level (such as the very existence of proteins and flowers across many species)
to be fair... flowers are a very recent invention that appeared only after the dinosaurs got wiped out and clean slate allowed co-evolution of flowers and pollinators to occur
Flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared during the Cretaceous before dinosaurs got wiped out, and there is fossil evidence of insects pollinating non-flowering plants (gymnosperms) like ferns and confers even earlier than that: https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/152b12d...