I agree, those are two different things: (1) how well can you navigate other people’s world, and (2) the fact that even if you can do it perfectly, your own world is still somewhere else.
As a metaphor, imagine that you are interested in quantum physics, but other people are only interested in celebrity gossip. So you follow the standard advice: study celebrity facts from Wikipedia, read the standard media, practice talking about celebrities in front of a mirror, etc. Twenty years later, you get great at celebrity gossip, everyone loves you, they invite you to all the cool parties, so that they can discuss the latest gossip with you.
...that’s all very nice and useful, but what you would actually wanted to discuss is quantum physics. And frankly, that’s never going to happen. At least, your celebrity-gossip skills do not contribute to this goal. It was never the goal of the standard advice to actually help you with this problem.
I agree, those are two different things: (1) how well can you navigate other people’s world, and (2) the fact that even if you can do it perfectly, your own world is still somewhere else.
As a metaphor, imagine that you are interested in quantum physics, but other people are only interested in celebrity gossip. So you follow the standard advice: study celebrity facts from Wikipedia, read the standard media, practice talking about celebrities in front of a mirror, etc. Twenty years later, you get great at celebrity gossip, everyone loves you, they invite you to all the cool parties, so that they can discuss the latest gossip with you.
...that’s all very nice and useful, but what you would actually wanted to discuss is quantum physics. And frankly, that’s never going to happen. At least, your celebrity-gossip skills do not contribute to this goal. It was never the goal of the standard advice to actually help you with this problem.