Dennett starts his tale at the very beginning — with bacteria. He guides us through the evolutionary saga that leads from these microscopic organisms to the intricate beings we are today, capable of producing the profound works of Bach and the ingenious plays of Shakespeare.

Analogy: Imagine you're building a LEGO castle. You start with simple bricks (bacteria), and over time, you add more pieces and build complex structures (like animals and humans). Just like in evolution, you start simple and become more complex, learning and adapting as you build.

Central to Dennett's argument is the concept of memes, introduced by Richard Dawkins. Memes are essentially cultural genes, units of information that replicate, mutate, and spread from mind to mind, shaping human culture and, ultimately, our consciousness.

Analogy: Think of memes like the flu. When someone sneezes (shares an idea), others around them can catch the flu (the idea) and spread it to more people. Memes are ideas, styles, or behaviours that spread from person to person within a culture, shaping how we think and act, just like catching and spreading a cold.

So, how does consciousness emerge from the memetic process? Dennett challenges traditional views, proposing instead that our minds are machines for generating and processing memes. This perspective shifts the spotlight from a centralised "theatre" of consciousness to a multitude of unconscious processes that craft our subjective experience.

Analogy: Imagine your mind is like a magic show. You don't see all the preparation and tricks happening backstage (your unconscious mind working). Instead, you're amazed by the magic tricks on stage (your conscious thoughts and experiences). Dennett suggests that consciousness isn't about a single magic trick but the result of many hidden processes in our brains working together to create the show.

Dennett also argues that comprehension is not a prerequisite for competence.

Analogy: Think about using a smartphone. You don't need to know how it's built or how it works internally to use it for calling or playing games. Your brain has many skills (like recognising faces or solving puzzles) that it does well without you understanding how it does them, just like using a smartphone without being a phone engineer.