Agree, fiction and narrative is a fundamental method of human reasoning, one of the first and oldest. I think a lot of people are reacting to this are missing

Agree, fiction and narrative is a fundamental method of human reasoning, one of the first and oldest. I think a lot of people are reacting to this are missing some of the point - fictions may not literally model reality, but what makes certain fiction memorable is it shines light on some under-expressed aspect of reality, which sticks with us when we encounter a similar pattern in our lives. Whether its also serving entertainment purposes or the author's pet peeves is beside the point, because that is not the part of the fiction to be taken seriously. We have all sorts of relevant quotes about this: > all models are wrong, some are useful > truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations > We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know how to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. - Picasso Aside from the obvious perception-is-reality aspect of fiction, it's especially important to take fiction seriously these days because the tech world is eyeing the many gray areas between fiction and reality as the next frontier for expansion. These avatars are a perfect example of this attempt to acquire more of the territory of human experience; not just the material reality but the many possible directions our hearts and drives may take us. If we dismiss fiction as something to take less seriously than 'reality', rather than something to be understood in a different way than rational analysis (and with its own skill tree), then we cede this territory to those that know how to wield it against us.