The history of the cliché goes way back before Futurama: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat Or I just read:

The history of the cliché goes way back before Futurama: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat Or I just read: Therefore the logical end of mechanical progress is to reduce the human being to something resembling a brain in a bottle. - written by George Orwell ~1937 in a book intended for general audience - he avoids uncommon or unclear metaphors. http://www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/11.html http://www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/11.html