I'm really starting to think that the physical body (which contains the animal mind) is really just an advanced self-learning AI that improves itself by pattern recognition. And of course our consciousness (the self aware part) is what can steer this AI more precisely.

It's almost like a stubborn mule (your physical avatar) and a rider (your self aware consciousness).

The mule just wants instant gratification, while the rider wants to get up the mountain. So you have to work with the mule, by providing instant gratification that gets you both up the mountain.

I'm not sure if you've read much about neural plasticity - where behaviours get programmed into the brain like a trail path. The more the trail gets walked on (repetition), the deeper and more permanent it becomes.

But I don't think the animal mind understands logic that well, so you can program it through repetition, hence making it more "real".