>>1151042These are mostly sci-fi examples, right? I'm familiar with how science fiction authors like to drop references to interesting concepts in their work (e.g. pic related how Futurama did with Boltzmann brains). However, I think you might just be proving the opposite point: that popular media, even science fiction, usually just skims over topics without presenting them in any depth (if it did, its audience would get bored and change the channel). This is why for example so many people still use the word "sentient" to mean "sapient", because sci-fi misinformed them with a shallow presentation of philosophy of mind.
That being said, such popular presentations can be useful anchors for explaining new concepts to people and getting them interested. But that still requires somebody to already have the background knowledge. That's not something you're going to get from the average cartoon or blockbuster hit.
