Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard (1981)

A tough read that is worth wrestling with for however long it takes, Jean Baudrillard's essay on the relationship between reality and society serves as the foundational inspiration for The Matrix (1999).

Per Baudrillard, Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original, or that no longer have an original and Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Though very much of its postmodern 1908s, as you might imagine the theories described are endlessly applicable to our current world particularly in the realms of AI and media manipulation. Arm yourself with the actual red pill and not the one co-opted by the alt right and men's rights movements.