So... to return to my unanswered questions:

Is exhaustive search a "selection process"? What about random search?

If yes, is there any search strategy that is not a "selection process"? (If no, then what is it?) Otherwise, "selection process" is just a rather useless synonym for "search", and the cited thesis just says you can't find an optimum unless you actually look for it.

If no, that defeats the cited thesis - that optimisation only results from selection processes - since exhaustive search optimises functions fine.