This is a common misconception, linking socialism with top-down bureaucratic control (what is this passage really is about).
from google define:
"a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."
In my opinion "regulation by the community" is what is important, eg. there are private coops. This regulation is consensus-driven by the workers and people involved, direct action, locality etc.., it's not bad at all, on the contrary you feel more connected.
Attachment and insecurity issues can be greatly improved with psychedelic induced trips (with safe setting). If mushrooms, ayahuasca or similars are very hard to get(in my country it's hard) holotropic breathwork is reported to have similar effect, although can't reinforce that.
This message is more like to anyone with attachment issues, I've just read your brother is 13 years old so mehh, don't know.. Safe bet that he is not mature enough, haven't read anything about what are the hazards when adolescents take it.
Isn't there something other in the background, like you don't like programming, and these higher topics just suddenly present themselves as the escape route?
With either yes or no, if you can afford you might consider taking off 1 or 2 years, moving to a cheap country and erudite yourself(online courses, books - but hell no to college) or just exploring stuff.
Porn can create/maintain different thinking patterns, underhabituate you for normal real-life cues. By withdrawing and resensitizing your dopamine circuits you might jumpstart your motivation, getting more fun and getting out of the rut. Shouldn't expect a miracle but may worth a try.
Ditch doctors (at least the majority), and medication. Read about glutene intolerance and possible connections. Take omega-3 supplements and stop glutene+dairy. Possible that it's just bullshit and won't work, otherwise effects after 30days. Worst case you just become slim and fit.
A stronger version of this problem is the speculations about the "age of mass robotization".
As robots become more and more general-intelligent with cheap maintenance costs, creating their specific "inner robot market", they will drive the costs of many human labour/service forms even lower making many current human-oriented job obsolete.
Without egalitarian welfare solutions, such as basic income, we are very much fucked.
Psychological studies found that humans have a notorious tendency to think about their environment and feelings in static terms and underestimate how much they will change in the future.
I think part of your question is rooted in this false assumption and therefore not answarable. Life is chaotic and the biggest effects will come from rare, lucky, unforeseeable, "unkown unknown" type coincidences. These are positive/negative Black Swans in Taleb's terminology. Eg. a life-long-friend from a conference, your future wife in a party etc..
What you can do is maximize your surface to these positive Black Swans(eg. hoarding options, meet peoples) and minimize possible negative outcomes(leverage contracts, debts, anything that tides you down).
Reinterpreting your question these types of heuristics/practices are what worth doing, but they are usually not specific decisions.
Books listing similar heuristics are Reed's Suceeding, Munger's Almanach and of course Taleb's Fooled by Randomness and Black Swan. Wonderful books, hope it helps.
Another benefit that your friends filter out what they consider noise, they will only communicate what is worth communicating (putting in the effort) by their standards.
1. If you have money, consider going for a year to some cheap/sunny place and do exactly nothing. Take notes of that nothing. I've spent 9months doing that(although I stayed at home) and it was one of the most productive periods, in terms of self-discovery/reading/ideas. The downside can be absence of social connections but if you are the type you can love it. Another one that it somewhat involves your comfort zone, so you will learn a lot but a motivating team can be more effective(and harder/luckier to find).
2. PhD or any job is not a life-long decision. Go there, see it and if you don't like it move on. I've started a PhD at the moment and for me it's good as the scholarship is okay and I literally do whatever I want..
3. Getting into a phd can be much easier than what you think, you just have to write a myriad applications(~20) chances you can get something you like. Once you are in its usually pretty much up to you how you spend your time etc..
from google define: "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."
In my opinion "regulation by the community" is what is important, eg. there are private coops. This regulation is consensus-driven by the workers and people involved, direct action, locality etc.., it's not bad at all, on the contrary you feel more connected.