Fiction can point out real possibilities that the reader had never considered before. When I imagined simulated brains, I only ever thought of those simulations

Fiction can point out real possibilities that the reader had never considered before. When I imagined simulated brains, I only ever thought of those simulations as running for the benefit of the people being simulated, enjoying a video game world. It never occurred to me to consider the possibility of emulated laborers and "red motivation". Now I have to weigh that possibility.