> Using this model, there's nothing special about human or conscious observation. Every interaction via a particle or otherwise is simply pushing a button.

But there is something kind-of-special about the box with the buttons and the lights.

Not every interaction is simply pushing a button that lights one lamp or another. Keeping the analogy, the result of an interaction between two particles may be a combination of the "red on", "green on" states. You need to keep adding particles to have a box with buttons and lamps that works as expected.