<human>: I genuinely do not understand why one would want friendships/relationships besides the pragmatic reasons. 

I tend to befriend people/have relationships because I need: insights about myself because I do not understand my emotions/feelings very well; understanding what makes other people tick so I can use this information to achieve some of my social goals (i.e. not to piss off my boss); general company (e.g. movies, eating out); sex and touching. I am almost never genuinely interested in the other person per se. 

The reason for this question - I asked one of my friends what motivates her in having a lot of friends/dates and she said it is genuine interest in people. I was in therapy once briefly and the therapist suggested that this looks like some sort of autism. I function quite normally and don't look like someone with Asperger's/autism but I genuinely find it very, very, very hard to understand what people feel about other people/what I feel about other people, me included.

Give me the gist of the text in a nutshell
<bot>: Why do people need other people if self-growth and development are motivated internally? Is the absence of such a need indicative of a mental health problem?