Flirting, if we continue to interpret it as a game between two agents, seems to have some interesting properties.
The "permission handshake" Scott Alexander points out (thanks, @noggin-scratcher) looks to be the core of the flirting game. A's goal is to gain permission to be romantically intimate with B while not letting B know that they're doing this, at least not immediately such that B can make up their mind regarding the matter. A's general strategy comes in two parts: gain this permission incrementally (i.e. spen... (read more)
Flirting, if we continue to interpret it as a game between two agents, seems to have some interesting properties.
The "permission handshake" Scott Alexander points out (thanks, @noggin-scratcher) looks to be the core of the flirting game. A's goal is to gain permission to be romantically intimate with B while not letting B know that they're doing this, at least not immediately such that B can make up their mind regarding the matter. A's general strategy comes in two parts: gain this permission incrementally (i.e. spen... (read more)