The first sentence you quote refers to machines, not humans, and machines must be somehow programmed with, or learn patterns from data, that's why I say that it

The first sentence you quote refers to machines, not humans, and machines must be somehow programmed with, or learn patterns from data, that's why I say that it's not a general solution - because it's restricted by the data available. I don't know how humans do it. Whatever we do it's something that is not covered by our current understanding of computation and maybe even mathematics. I suspect that in order to answer your question we need a new science of computation and mathematics. I think that may sound a bit kooky but it's a bit late and I'm a bit tired to explain so I guess you'll have to suspect I'm just a crank until I next find the energy to explain myself.