Oh, I think I get what you’re asking now. Within-lifetime learning is a process that includes something like a training process for the brain, where we learn to do things that feel good (a kind of training reward). That’s what you’re asking about if I understand correctly?

I would say no, we aren’t schemers relative to this process, because we don’t gain power by succeeding at it. I agree this is subtle and confusing question, and I don’t know if Joe Carlsmith would agree, but the subtlety to me seems to belong more to the nuances of the situation & analogy and not to the imprecision of the definition.

(Ordinary mental development includes something like a training process, but it also includes other stuff more analogous to building out a blueprint, so I wouldn’t overall consider it a kind of training process.)