Some people think just talking to the opposite sex is flirting. Some people would define flirting as how you let them you know you’re interested in the first place.

It’s not redundant, it simply can’t be as a part of courtship, but what is meaningless is our current understanding of what, exactly, it consists of.

Making intentions known is necessary. Flirting is just one of the preocesses by which intention is established. In that way, it is not strictly necessary, in the same way that cake is not necessary, but food is.

Flirting is a process which intentionally leaves ambiguity because it lets people avoid embarrassment. Being rejected, in many cultures, is embarrassing. By attempting flirting, a person can show interest indirectly, and the other person can show interest in return or show disinterest with quiet cues that let the instigator pull back without having to do something as vulnerable as explicitly stating intentions or experience embarrassment at being directly rejected.

Flirting, like anything else, can also be used as a display of quality, the verbal/intellectual equivalent of peacock feather displays.

How necessary these elements are is entirely contextual. Some partners despise the pretense of it. Others view it as incredibly fun. Some are deeply embarassed by the prospect of rejection. Some are not bothered by it at all.

some people believe flirting is a goal in itself or an indispensable part of life for a valid human. meaning, these type of people can’t conceive the existence of someone who doesn’t flirt nor one who doesn’t enjoy flirting. that’s very dehumanizing for others of us.

not everyone is capable of flirting.

Is chewing redundant? The little swish of a nice beverage? Flirting is the game, it’s half the fun. Sure the other parts are nourishing and wonderful too. But to flirt is to delight in such a primally human interaction.

Seems like this was answered already, but I’ll add my two cents. Attraction isn’t always 100% physical. It can be and often is tied to personality. Flirting is a way to show your personality in a more intimate way. A good flirt can cause someone else to develop attraction where without it that attraction may not have developed.

Flirting is just part of seduction. It’s not just to “make intentions known”, people are more dynamic than that. Being flirted with will often actually create feelings that weren’t there before. If you enjoy how someone makes you feel, you open up and become closer. Merely being liked by someone can be quite flattering.

Is flirting redundant?

For autistic people: maybe.

For everyone else: no.

Flirting is a means of communicating that a person likes another person. If no one flirted, then meeting people would be even more difficult than it already is.

No, it isn’t. They may already like you but how will they know you care if you don’t offer an array of easy to misunderstand signals?

I see flirting as banter to make sexual/romantic intentions known.

That’s basically what it is. It’s not there to make someone develop feelings, it’s a way to safely make your feeling known and see if they are reciprocated. It’s basically lowering the risk of rejection, if the feeling isn’t mutual and you don’t get a response you can just write it off as a harmless flirt. If (s)he flirts back you can dial it up a notch.

A lot of people have low self esteem and/or don’t see themselves as attractive. Their perception of themselves isn’t always obvious, either. Flirting with them can give them that “nudge” they need to act on their feelings.

I can’t flirt to save my life.

So it’s hardly necessary. That said, I’ve had more than a few conversations with clients about our employees “flirting” only to find out they all the guard said was literally “hello,” without getting up from the desk or otherwise taking it any further.

(I’m a manager contract security. My employees are guards at our client’s facilities or wherever.)

So you should just treat the person you’re interested in like you would any other person.

But flirting is how I treat every other person!

I didn’t flirt with my partner at all and kept my emotions in. so we didn’t get together until like 8 months of friendship. my SO had 0 idea I had any interest until we had a moment. It overwhelmed SO and led to wanting space between us for a few months. I wonder if it would have been different if I flirted some.

I think flirting is like the prologue of an RPG, in many cases the best part.