Very interesting analysis. Have you also factored in our nature as a social/tribal species? I would argue there are also deeply rooted evolutionary / biological responses that are somewhat primitive and reward "going with the crowd." Networking could be seen as a personal limitation, as you described, but it could also be seen as something rewarded by our primitive nature as providing a safer outcome for the survival of our genes, given the strength and protection that comes from being part of a larger group.
But maybe I'm off on a tangent a bit. I like many of your points about the subconscious cost of our decisions and the cognitive dissonance they create. For me, it's as simple as trying to create the world we all want to live in.
Yes it is factored-in. There are penalties in doing so. But going with the crowd has another dimension as well.
At our core and heart, we all want to be loved because we understand that this is the natural state of being (=getting loved) and anything else is painful. The mind translates this want/need into "acceptance". So the social strategies go like "if I want love, I must be accepted... so my social strategies must revolve around getting acceptance" - and then strategies are devised to do precisely that (some times going with the crowd, or even against it - but in a way where the individual wants to prove he is superior to the crowd and thus worthy of even more recognition which then translates as acceptance and is sublimely expected to bring love).
You see teenagers, for example, adopting a fake persona... language, mannerisms, etc... why? Because they think if I'm cool, I'll be more "accepted" and this is sublimely equated with receiving love. And then you have serious distortions where the very pure motive to get love can end up with things like "let's do this X or Y bad thing which is cool"... But they don't understand how and why their actions originate... (now I've gone off quite a bit)...