The phrase that fascinates me most in your description is: "beyond the explicitly programmed capabilities, the microcontroller provides a vector through which other data can be passed". Does this mean that the microcontroller has some sort of agency or free will?
The phrase that fascinates me most in your description is: "beyond the explicitly programmed capabilities, the microcontroller provides a vector through which other data can be passed". Does this mean that the microcontroller has some sort of agency or free will?