Weird feeling like everyone knows something I don't

I often feel strangely like the whole world knows something I don't about how to behave and what to do, I often feel completely alienated from everyone, by everyone I mean every last person on planet Earth. I feel no connection, no deep connection anyway, to anyone like I am some kind of alien slime that nobody wants anything to do with. Does everyone feel such a profound sense of alienation from time to time? Is the difference just that some people don't fixate on it?

If you're having difficulties with knowing how to behave, general social skills, and connecting with others, you may be turning people away due to the things you are doing or saying. Have you spoken to a therapist about this?

Two things came to mind:

The idea that people know something you don't is an implication of the possibility of delusions of persecution. Not necessarily that they are "out to get you" but more that they are "keeping something from you" that you feel you need to know.

The next thing I thought of was disassociation, the feeling that you aren't really there, or don't really belong. I recommend a bit of research and a consultation with a counselor.

Do you mean "dissociation" (without the 'a')? The act of "disassociation" (with the 'a'), from what I understand, is consciously done.. where as "dissociating" is not.

It just like other people always know what's going on around them, and are much better at reading other people's emotions and responding accordingly than I am.

I also sometimes feel like other people know how interact normally while I'm missing something. I tend to ruminate about minor social encounters and conflicts that other people probably don't think twice about.

The Dylan quote in your sig tells me how you feel. Not easy...it's an Existential dilemma. I almost always feel the same way. I'll bet a lot of people do. Maybe they're afraid to talk about it. For me, a support group really helped with it. Well...as much as anything helps, anyway.

Me too. I sometimes apologize and people seem puzzled but I feel like I've transgressed. The more gracious of my friends and colleagues just ignore my eccentricities when it comes to my microanalyzing social situations and encounters or gently reassure me that we are good. I often feel like I am missing out on the whole puzzle.

Microanalysis is a good description!

Sounds a bit like disassociation as they mentioned above. Could it be related to being on the spectrum in anyway?

I believe we should be able to rely on others. Community living creates feelings of safety and belonging. Feeling a need to belong and connect with others is a normal feeling. When we rely on others too much, we give ourselves a false interpretation of reality and what others can do for us. Inability to rely on others will stress feelings of fear and acceptance. Both of these situations might create reason for dissociation and over-sensitivity.

We're not supposed to diagnose on the forums on PC. I'd like to point out that you used the term "slime" to describe yourself (which, considering the way you used the term could be interpreted as a negative self-image) and then made several assumptions about "the whole world," "nobody," "everyone," "every last person" that I doubt are actually true.

People learn how to behave, if by behave you mean adhere to a set of behaviors generally considered appropriate for the society you're in. You don't say how old you are (and you don't have to); however, I can offer an observation that young people often bumble about for a while before they feel as though they have found their place; and this feeling of unsettledness can come back at mid-life and at old age, I don't doubt.

The coming of the internet and hand held devices (tablets, cell phones, etc) has seriously disrupted the sort of socialization that people who had to deal face to face got by the boatload by virtue of actually being face to face with other people. So there is that, too. This can sometimes become more apparent when circumstances change: going away to college, starting a job where there is face to face interaction, moving to a new neighborhood, etc (pre-COVID 19 for most of this).

You can probably help yourself by choosing one word or phrase: 'alienation,' 'feeling disconnected' or 'existential crisis,' as examples, and then searching it in a search engine, to see what pops up. Then you can read or watch videos to delve more deeply into the areas that resonate with you.