First of all, I would like to focus on the post/idea itself but not the author. Accusing an idea is less sound because of one's judgement of the author makes little sense to me.
A lot of the comments on this thread talks about "social skills", "learning from people", etc. But reading books itself is a way of communicating with people over space and time. If you focus on the efficiency and ROI, reading classic books will probably inspire you more than talking to a random person at a party.
The OP's complaint about "mindless conversations about the news" seems justified in my opinion. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a good book on the topic. Don't Look Up is also a good movie on the topic.
Focusing on efficiency and ROI in this context is just kinda gross. As if other people are some resource to be extracted and consumed; as if life is some function to be gradient-descended to achieve some maxima. Would you rather have a glass of <your favorite drink> by the fire with <your favorite intellectual> or would you rather sit alone and read their book at home?
You are right. I am not saying relationships are less important. I do believe relationships are more important to most. “Focusing on ROI” is just a presumption for the next statement. One also doesn’t have to focus on relationships all the time.
A lot of the comments on this thread talks about "social skills", "learning from people", etc. But reading books itself is a way of communicating with people over space and time. If you focus on the efficiency and ROI, reading classic books will probably inspire you more than talking to a random person at a party.
The OP's complaint about "mindless conversations about the news" seems justified in my opinion. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a good book on the topic. Don't Look Up is also a good movie on the topic.