>That's a big "just". It takes a lot of time and effort that you might want to spend elsewhere
That's true for everything in life as the amount of hours in a day and the amount of days in your life is finite, so it depends on your priorities where you choose to allocate your time and effort.
Do you want to chase a top dev career and money? Fine, but don't complain you lock social skills. Do you want to chase social interactions, traveling and partying? Also fine, but don't complain you can't land a top career.
>Who is to say one is strictly better than the other?
Where did I say that one is better? My point was to exemplify that prioritizing one thing (SW career for example) for multiple years has a consequences of leaving you behind in other areas (social contacts and experiences).
>Sitting indoors in front of a screen for a few years can set you up for life.
True, and maybe it does, but what if it doesn't due to other factors out of your control and it was survivorship bias at play so you spent your prime years chasing wheelchair wealth instead of enjoying the years and experiences that are never coming back? You can't go back to the high-school or college parties you missed out on, if you're set up for life in your 30's. Time waits for no man and there are no guarantees in life. Even the whole "set up for life" allegory can be a wild goose chase, as unless you have full health and fuck you money, you're never really set-up for life.
Again, neither approach is bad or wrong, but it's important to constantly evaluate the consequences and drawbacks of your choices and make corrections when necessary to make sure you stay on track of doing what makes you happy and not get stuck mindlessly running on a hamster wheel chasing a carrot on a stick till you drop dead because of FOMO or pressure from society.
E: your edited in last paragraph is basically what I'm trying to say.
> That's true for everything in life as the amount of hours in a day and the amount of days in our life is finite so it depends on your priorities where you want to allocate your time
This is exactly my point. I think having decent/passable social skills is very beneficial, but I also know that having an active social life is very time consuming. Maybe OP only needs to do this for a short time to build up some skills he can use in future.
I don't think we disagree, I'm trying to point out the same thing you are. That you can't have it all.
> Where did I say that one is better? My point was that prioritizing one thing (SW career) for multiple years has a consequences of leaving you behind in other things (social contacts and experiences)
I felt it was implied that this was a poor choice compared to being more social. I also agree there are no guarantees. Personally, I'm naturally less social and more interested in my personal growth, so I'm not particularly bothered by not socializing a lot. I think it's very dependent on your personality.
That's true for everything in life as the amount of hours in a day and the amount of days in your life is finite, so it depends on your priorities where you choose to allocate your time and effort.
Do you want to chase a top dev career and money? Fine, but don't complain you lock social skills. Do you want to chase social interactions, traveling and partying? Also fine, but don't complain you can't land a top career.
>Who is to say one is strictly better than the other?
Where did I say that one is better? My point was to exemplify that prioritizing one thing (SW career for example) for multiple years has a consequences of leaving you behind in other areas (social contacts and experiences).
>Sitting indoors in front of a screen for a few years can set you up for life.
True, and maybe it does, but what if it doesn't due to other factors out of your control and it was survivorship bias at play so you spent your prime years chasing wheelchair wealth instead of enjoying the years and experiences that are never coming back? You can't go back to the high-school or college parties you missed out on, if you're set up for life in your 30's. Time waits for no man and there are no guarantees in life. Even the whole "set up for life" allegory can be a wild goose chase, as unless you have full health and fuck you money, you're never really set-up for life.
Again, neither approach is bad or wrong, but it's important to constantly evaluate the consequences and drawbacks of your choices and make corrections when necessary to make sure you stay on track of doing what makes you happy and not get stuck mindlessly running on a hamster wheel chasing a carrot on a stick till you drop dead because of FOMO or pressure from society.