When you’re constantly building and refining projects it’s very easy to lose contact with the people close to you. By maintaining minimal contact for weeks and months on end you can fall into a very detached state from the surrounding culture and its people—AKA “the streets”. It’s clear there are many benefits to having such tendencies, though the setbacks should be outlined.

Imagine one day popping your head out of the cave that you’ve created for yourself to find the people around you have dramatically changed. Imagine the feeling of missing countless opportunities because you were too busy in your tunnel. You may be one of the many that happily accept this fate in exchange for peace and silence. Or you may not be comfortable with the feeling of missed opportunities and information. Whichever camp you lay within, it’s more often than not intelligent to poke your head out of the cave every now and again keeping your ear to the streets and remaining aware of your changing environment.

In the 1660s Louis XIV had the palace of Versailles built for him and his court. He purposefully designed the palace so his nobility remained close to him. The king’s bedroom occupied the literal centre of the palace as the focus of everyone’s attention.

Every single morning he would see individuals and groups of people in a precise order, first the king’s illegitimate sons and his grandchildren, then the princes and princesses of the blood, and then the physician and surgeon. There followed the grand officers, the king’s official reader, and so on and so forth from government officials to entertainers. This ritual was known as ‘the lever’. By the end of the ceremony, the room would be packed with over a hundred people. The day was organized so that all the palace’s energy was directed at and passed through the king. Louis XIV kept a very close ear to his surroundings. It’s much more difficult to plot an assassination of such a king.

There was no possibility of privacy in the palace, not even for the king — every room communicated with another. Everyone’s actions were interdependent, and nothing and no one passed unnoticed

From the design of the palace of Versailles with the king’s bed at the centre to his daily ritual requiring his family, courtiers, and government officials to check in with him (around 100 people), Louis XIV made himself the centre of activity. He was always looking around, observing everything, including anyone who failed to show up at his meals and other events. Because of the constant togetherness, nothing escaped the king’s notice. By keeping court activity revolving around him and understanding that isolation is dangerous, Louis XIV managed to maintain peace for fifty years.

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere— everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from—it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find allies and mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

5 Dangers That Isolation Brings

1. You lose contact with the sources of your power.
2. You lose your ear for what is happening around you.
3. You lose your sense of proportion.
4. You cut yourself off from the kind of knowledge on which your life depends.
5. You cannot hear what is happening around you, including the plots against you.

It becomes harder to break out of your isolation when you choose to. It sinks you deep into its quicksand without your noticing.