I agree, the imagery that we use in metaphor (in speech, visually, or in conception) influences how we think about things - and a popular analogy like that abou

I agree, the imagery that we use in metaphor (in speech, visually, or in conception) influences how we think about things - and a popular analogy like that about the mitochondria is certainly a meme, a "cultural information transfer". As you pointed out, a fairly recent meme is "the brain is the computer of the body", and maybe "the Internet is the brain of humanity".