This 'minimization' goal would require a brain that is powerful enough to believe that lasers destroy or discolor what they hit.

From the PCT perspective, the goal of an E. coli bacterium swimming away from toxins and towards food is to keep its perceptions within certain ranges; this doesn't require a brain of any sort at all.

What requires a brain is for an outside observer to ascribe goals to a system. For example, we ascribe a thermostat's goal to be to keep the temperature in a certain range. This does not require that the thermostat itself be aware of this goal.