My point is that I believe OP was using the word "literally" to mean what it literally means,
You can only rationally make that argument if you are claiming that "society" is a biological organism, like an amoeba or a babboon, presumably evolved from other common ancestors of all life on earth. When you can tell me the scientific name of this organism, and what organs have been affected by tumors, we can start talking about the literality of the "cancer" OP referred to.
As the underlying logic was metaphorical, "literally" was used as figurative hyperbole, not literality.
With a resistive, electric burner, your point is valid, but we are talking about an inductive range. They don't work by conducting heat from the range to the pan. They work by inducing an electric current in the pan itself. The heat is produced within the metal of the pan, not within the range. The pan does, indeed, need to be thermally insulated from the range to minimize heat loss.