Strange. My knowledge of the fundamentals and processes in humans still makes me jelous of the apparent ease others fare in social situations. Clearly there's more to it than it seems. I'd be wary of equating bottom-up and top-down as principally equivalent.
If you don't understand the fundamentals and basics of the underlying science, then you can't really be right about anything at all. It should shock and disturb you to listen someone get it this wrong, this "not even wrong" level of nonsense. There's no insight to be found in such prattle.