I believe the choice of C isn't really about "how computers work" as much as "how algorithms work", with C only providing a minimal toolkit of architecture-inde

I believe the choice of C isn't really about "how computers work" as much as "how algorithms work", with C only providing a minimal toolkit of architecture-independent efficient high-level functions that allow for a simple mental model of how algorithms in higher-level languages work underneath, which is extremely useful in the real-world for getting a good overview of algorithm efficiency. Another good reason is that C is useful as a sort of mid-level psuedocode. This pseudocode is useful for providing a mental model that allows you to make the leap from a modern high-level language to C to an assembly language much more easily than making the straight cognitive leap from a high-level language to the specifics of an assembly language or architecture.