> the context of men flirting with women, sometimes women are kind and polite without actually being comfortable (social conditioning), which many men incorrect

> the context of men flirting with women, sometimes women are kind and polite without actually being comfortable (social conditioning), which many men incorrectly take as a sign of interest. That's totally true! But that's one thing about flirting, it can be very light and non-committal. If she is being extra friendly, smiling a lot, and giving you a little extra eye contact, you can do the same and see how she responds. If she gives you a positive feedback, take it one step farther. If she gives you negative feedback, just forget about it no harm done. Maybe she was smiling at you in the first place because she also doesn't know if she wants to flirt with you and she's testing the waters. I think where people get into trouble is they see someone go from 0 to 1, and they jump straight to step 7 which comes off as aggressive and off-putting.