Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith is a classic story of the genre. So naturally we disagree over it, then switch things up by argueing about world-building.
Links:
Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith [Fantasy Book, 1950]:
https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Book_v01n06_1950
Trailer for Being There [1979]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOOghKacg40
Wikipedia article on Instrumentality of Mankind:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentality_of_Mankind
