Magic in D&D comes in discrete blocks called "Spells" which are isolated and alienated from both the world and the mechanics, two problems that overlap and reinforce each other. The end result is a world in which magic exists, but there are almost no tools with which to grapple with it, understand it, or interact with it.
For an example of narrative isolation, image some D&D characters having a battle underwater. The wizard asks to cast fireball. One DM simply shrug, since nothing in the rulebook actually states that the spell interacts with water. I suspect most would be tempted to modify the spell in some way- Either disallowing it entirely, or reducing the area or damage as the water absorbs some of the fury. The key point here is that because the spell creates fire, we can make some assumptions about how it interacts with the world and responds to different scenarios and environments. The same is true for many elemental spells- fantasy lightning isn't really the same as electricity, but there's plenty of room from a canny PC or DM to do something creative with it.
Contrast this with, say, "Enlarge Person" which just happens. There's no real-world equivalent to magic growth, and there's no fantastic explanation! The text could say it summons flesh from the elemental plane of muscles, for example, which would then offer some hooks for creative interpretation- The extra flesh could be inhibited, distorted, replaced, etc.
For another fun example, ask a couple DMs why necromancy is evil. Some will tell you it isn't evil, it's just misunderstood! Others will make something up about siphoning life force from the cosmic well or the immorality of enslaving spirits.
For a system that does slightly more work in providing a system of magic, consider Avatar the Last Airbender. In that cartoon, control over the elements comes from a spiritual link which relies on mastering and embodying a particular emotional state- This isn't expounded on too much, but it lets us make some basic statements about the world: If passion is firey, then we can expect that fire-users are in some way passionate, that angering a fire-user will intensify his magic, that depression would dampen fire magic.
D&D has "schools" but doesn't really give us any toolkit to say what they are. We don't know what conjuration is besides that it makes stuff show up, or what kinds of people become conjurers, what an ideal or impossible conjuring environment looks like.
So that's what I mean when I say magic is isolated and alienated from the world- That spells exist as discrete blocks with no rhyme or reason or anything to tie them together besides broad descriptions of effect- Having a college of "Abjuration" is like having a college of "Offense."
Mechanically, spells are also isolated; they rarely reference each other, and they're structured to minimize the potential for interaction. One argument would be that this is an inevitable feature of the turn and action system in 5e; Your turn is your turn, and spells that begin and end on distinct turns will necessarily never meet. This is incorrect- Things that happen on your turn could certainly influence and be influenced by things that happen in the past and future! Most non-D&D games do this!
Consider the elemental system from "Divinity" where almost every spell creates or modifies the environment in some way- Firing icicles at your enemy leaves puddles of water everywhere, which get turned to steam by fireballs, which can in turn conduct and enhance a lightning bolt.
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