The Importance of Control in the Computer

The philosopher Daniel Dennett introduces the metaphor here in his famous book called Consciousness Explained, 1991. He says that when I interact with the computer, I have limited access to the events occurring within it. But as you're pushing the buttons and getting things done on the computer, you don't actually need to know anything about the complex inner workings of how the software and hardware are operating. So if we take this metaphor seriously, then the idea that you're some sort of privileged observer of everything that's going on inside of your mind is just wrong.