Being able to either ignore or put up with office politics might be a pathology, but it's a pathology that is required in most well-paying work environments. Passing subjective judgement on it isn't helpful unless you're a) a high-level executive with the ability to drive culture changes; or b) able to provide examples of work environments that better conform to OP's preferred social interactions (which I do in my original post).
I don't think this is helpful.
Being able to either ignore or put up with office politics might be a pathology, but it's a pathology that is required in most well-paying work environments. Passing subjective judgement on it isn't helpful unless you're a) a high-level executive with the ability to drive culture changes; or b) able to provide examples of work environments that better conform to OP's preferred social interactions (which I do in my original post).