Sincerely no snark intended. But this comment and another about "bottom-up" via Assembly and C kinda show that maybe you've missed the point. We can blame SICP

Sincerely no snark intended. But this comment and another about "bottom-up" via Assembly and C kinda show that maybe you've missed the point. We can blame SICP itself for that maybe, but it's all in the name: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. It's abstract because it's not about actually physical computing — nor is it trying to take you to the same place as learning computing from hardware, "bottoms-up" is meant to but via some other mathematical means. It's trying to teach you to reason about computer programs by it's structures — that they aren't just a list of instructions. Reading Shakespeare won't teach you grammar but they'll help you be a better reader and writer in their own ways!