RE: Finally, I understand machine learning

Ahh. I was starting to figure think along what you're saying for AI, that altering the "hard code" as the next step. I'll keep thinking on it.
As to how humans learn, no doubt we learn the same way. A quote I like by Will Rogers: Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. The one thing that I'd also throw out is that sometimes, we humans have that stroke of genius lightbulb moment, that new hypothesis that just synthesizes seemingly from nowhere. It may be infrequent, but it happens.
!LUV