I think "valueless" is the wrong way to frame it. If it's emotionally tiring, maybe go out of your way to be totally alone every once in a while. No friends, no family, no nothing. Then go back to the social world with the energy and perspective to be cordial. This is something that usually takes people years to figure out, but small talk is not about you, your feelings, or your intelligence. It's not even about the other person, it's just about how we treat other people as members of a society.

It's hard but I think you have to drop your ego and just give a little. And once you are able to do that and kind of settle into the rhythm of social etiquette you'll be able to appreciate the beauty in it. We're all just meat puppets trying to make a challenging world a little bit nicer. It's actually a really humbling, fundamentally human thing to have these little moments of connection. Remember: we're all in the same boat. I wish I had accepted this earlier.

There is also another extreme where you can give too much and exhaust yourself. If you find yourself being too nice and having to pretend to be another type of person in order to maintain a random conversation, practice maneuvering in and out of these situations. It's important to be respectful, but you don't have to be everybody's friend.