The ‘aversion to social interaction’ is essentially an inference by exclusion which follows from the previous sentence. I state that, “Highly disagreeable personalities are so intolerant of authority and so averse to cooperation that they would rather try their luck in an unfamiliar domain where they can operate alone than compete in a well-mapped domain where they are expected to cooperate with others.

Novel domains are, by definition, sparsely populated by agents actively exploring the domain. If one has an aversion to social interaction then one can enter a novel domain and make progress without the bother of dealing with others. In more mature domains it becomes necessary to work in teams to be able to compete, unless the domain proves to be of sufficiently high complexity to exclude all but the hyper-competent. Brilliant writers generally work alone, as do plenty of theoretical scientists, but even the best engineers will need to work with a team to actually build something. (That’s not to say that there aren’t some brilliant engineers who are highly disagreeable, but they have to be exceptionally competent to compensate for how much they will annoy those who work with them!)

One question regarding opportunist mentality. You said that “people who succeed in a domain when it is in its Opportunist Era tend to be (…) extraordinary people with a distinct aversion to regular social interaction.”

How exactly does the aversion to social interaction play a role in someone’s opportunist tendencies?