[jader201]

> You do it because if you don't, then you'll be worse off years later.

This feels hyperbolic. While I would agree that community and remaining connected are very important to overall health, I don’t feel like making a habit of talking to strangers is a prerequisite.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

> This feels hyperbolic.

In my experience, it is not.

I'm "on the spectrum." In my case, it has been a net positive, because it afforded me the career that I have, but it has made interpersonal relationships difficult.

I have also spent my entire adult life, in a community that forces us to have fairly intimate interpersonal relationships (a program of personal Recovery).

It has been exhausting (you'll always find me in the kitchen at parties), but it has also been seriously therapeutic.

These days, it's almost unnoticeable. Definitely still there (ask my wife), but most folks never have a clue.

[lukan]

"I don’t feel like making a habit of talking to strangers is a prerequisite."

But if you practise that skill, you will then also be able to pick up a conversation with people you do find interesting.

[card_zero]

You might not be interested in knitting, but if you keep a pair of needles around and practice a few stitches regularly, you will gain the necessary skill to do any knitting that you do find interesting. Humans are knitting animals.