Most of our popular entertainment since the late 20th century has been chock full of these far-fetched ideas as plot devices. Everyone is primed to employ the techno-thriller "what if?" tool when building narratives and sensemaking.

And the huge and opaque organization required to make the modern world work provides a fertile ground for imaginations to run wild.

I think at this point it's so deeply ingrained that we're all somewhat susceptible to it.