And so is Naoki…

Or was it meant to be a kind of “society is attracted to A, he is attracted to me, therefore I must be attractive since a valuable person is attracted to my person ” thing?

I dont see how either applies to this idea of “higher reward for one party despite apparent unrequited love” , on the contrary, especially the “winning” part will be quite hard to get, except if she’s estimating herself really extremely lowly. Hmm or him extremely high. I guess it does apply in that case.

In the case of snatching away B from the observer, there definitely is some sort of triangle. And I guess it could be compared that, if you construe society’s influence as an imaginary 3rd, you have the same elements of value-increase due to competition you have in proper love triangles. Where such a thing is definitely not uncommon.

I’d appreciate if you could be clearer on this point, but eh.

But to address your professor’s ideas directly: I can see how it works. We always check with society, consciously or unconsciously whether our romantic partner is ‘good enough’ for us under its lights. How society forms the third point of the triangle is not that clear to me, but let’s see how I can fit it in.

Society in your professor’s framework does seem like a lover in the aspect that it has powerful influence on one’s behavior. I may rule out either the feasibility of the relationship itself, or the ‘qualification’ of the romantic partner to be lavished my romantic attentions on. But other than this, I wonder how else.

Theory wise there’s the relationship theory, then there’s good old Freud.

Balance of power is an interesting ideal. It’s so volatile! You want it to be all-peaceful and happy, but in most cases it’s a ‘Cold-War’ kind of standstill. Uh, speaking from experience, I think.

Trolling is a man’s love.

So then, what happens when a woman trolls?