Right. And, even if they did know every detail, they can't really experience what it's like. Even showing them pictures might upset them or something, but still they would not experience what you've gone through. That's just the way it is with us herd animals.
I always feel conflicted about that, because I can look at the human race from the outside, or so it seems to me. Whereas, I don't think most people ever even try to look at the human race objectively. So, I'm an inside-the-group guy because I'm legally and socially obligated, but I don't really think or operate like the rest of my species, so I can't really be a full part of that group. I just finished first draft of a book that deals with that issue for autistic people. I hate that the title has been used so much, because I'm calling it 'Desperado'. A desperado is one who lives alone by necessity because being in town gets him in trouble. But he doesn't really go off and be completely alone; he rides on the far outskirts of town. His life is still always in relation to town. (Of course, my protagonist is an unschooled ND tech wizard who happened to inherit a bicycle factory and fortune, but the comparison holds.)
It seems most of our breed live on the outskirts of society. The people in town get all the fellowship the world has to offer and all that goes with it. They all see the world about the same, so can relate to one another. We go into that milieu, we get bounced around like a pinball, so we keep to the outside. In a good moment, they say they can relate, but we know they only relate on a very surface level.
But if we sneak close and listen to them, we find out that most all of them live lives of desperate solitude; they huddle close like good herd animals, yet rarely experience real fellowship. Even their closest relationships - the bond of marriage - is always a mixed blessing. And look out; your best friend might sleep with your spouse. Tsunamis and bears couldn't be much worse.
As much as I am genetically one of those herd animals, I can't live with your typical amount of social exposure to them; I don't have high expectations of other humans. I used to! And what a miserable mess that was! Not understanding that I was of a breed apart, I expected people to be rational and often held them to that standard. Now I understand that my own thinking doesn't meet their standards, either. So it sounds like a standoff, right? My way vs. their way. Not really a standoff because there's a whole lot more of them. So I stay on the outskirts and try to be satisfied with what cautiously-sampled fellowship I can get. It's better than the pain of expecting them to live up to my standards.
