He looked at her like
someone who knew what he wanted.
From her look, to him, it
was not clear, to him, whether she thought that he looked at her like
someone who knew what he wanted, or not, while, in the affirmative
case, that is, in the case that she thought he looked at her like
someone who knew what he wanted, it was not clear, to him, whether
she believed that the look was for real, for, even when one looks at
someone else, at her in this case, like someone who knows what he
wants, it does not necessarily follow that he actually knows what he
wants,
which, in turn, can occur in two cases, one of which is this,
that he does not know what he wants, but pretends to know what he
wants, and, the second of which is this, that he does not know what
he wants, but thinks he knows what he wants. The former case, that he
looked at her like someone who knows what he wants, while actually
not knowing what he wants, and, furthermore, that he was aware that
he did not know what he wanted, yet looked at her like someone who
knows what he wants, could have been a result of pretentious
self-confidence, for he was well-known for his lack of
self-confidence. The latter case, that he looked at her like someone
who knows what he wants, thinking that he knew what he wanted, and,
therefore, supposed that he, looking at her like someone who knows
what he wants, was acting in an honest way, while, in reality, he did
not know what he wanted – or, for that matter, perhaps was
mistaken in his understanding of what he wanted, which would yield a
similar result and will therefore be omitted in this analysis – ,
could have been a result of a delusion or of a confusion, of him,
about what he wanted. Not that there was any reason for him to
believe that it was the affirmative case, that is, that she thought
he looked at her like someone who knew what he wanted, for it might
well have been that she did not think he looked at her like someone
who knew what he wanted, or, even worse, that she thought he looked
at her like someone who did not know what he wanted. The only
observable information was that his impression was that he looked at
her like someone who knew what he wanted, and that she looked back,
at him.
However, it was important
for him, how she felt, or thought. (Not that it was not important for
her, how she felt, or thought, for it was probable that it was, but
this case is beyond the scope of this analysis.) It was important for
him, how she felt, or thought, as he, once having known how she felt,
or thought, would act according to this information. This is why he
studied, in a moment's duration, each of the mentioned cases, and how
he should act in each of the cases, in order to determine the best
action to pursue, given that he did not have the information of how
she felt, or thought.
If she thought that he
looked at her like someone who knew what he wanted, yet that he
actually did not know what he wanted but only pretended to know what
he wanted, then, provided that she tracked this observation until its
logical consequences, as he did, she would conclude, as he did, that
he was pretending to be self-confident, which could most probably
cause her to introduce a further distance between them – as there
was already a distance between them, for historical reasons –, as
it is generally considered preferable to keep a distance with someone
who is considered, by the person in question, pretentious, and this
would make the problem almost unsolvable, except if she had a
preconception of him, which implied, or was, that he pretended to be
self-confident for good intentions, for reasons unknown, in which
case she could consider excusing, or at least ignoring, his
condition. He concluded that, in this case, except when it was the
exceptional sub-case mentioned just now, he would reach a dead end.
Therefore, his only hope, in this case, to continue in any positive
direction, was the small probability that she had a preconception of
him, which implied, or was, that he pretended to be self-confident
for good intentions, for reasons unknown, and, after calculating this
probability to be infinitesimal, he moved on to the other cases.
If she thought that he
looked at her like someone who knew what he wanted, that he did not
know what he wanted, but thought he knew what he wanted, then,
provided that she tracked this observation until its logical
consequences, as he did, she would conclude, as he did, that he was
deluded or confused, about what he wanted, which could most probably
cause her to hesitate to express her feelings, or thoughts, seeing
that he was not reliable. He concluded that, in this case, he would
reach a dead end, unless he could find another way, a way different
than looking at her like someone who knows what he wants, to continue
the conversation towards a positive direction, in which she would
feel comfortable to express her feelings, or thoughts. Given that she
already had grounds for hesitating to express her feelings, or
thoughts, he calculated the probability of him finding another way to
continue the conversation towards a direction in which she would feel
comfortable to express her feelings or thoughts, in such a way to
neutralize the negative effects already caused by his look and then
further create a positive and motivating ambiance – seeing that he
was not a conversant person – to be infinitesimal, and moved on to
the next cases.
If she did not think he
looked at her like someone who knew what he wanted, then, most
probably, she would have to assign a meaning to his look, a meaning
different from the one he intended – which effort it is not obvious
she would make, but will be assumed in this analysis. He remarked
that if she assigned a different meaning to his look than the one he
intended, namely, to give the impression that he knew what he wanted,
then it would be almost impossible, for him, to guess correctly what
that meaning would be, nor what consequences this meaning would have
on her attitude towards him. He concluded, therefore, that the only
way out, for him, was, for him to continue the conversation in
another direction, and hope to reach safer grounds, unless he could
find a way to infer the meaning she assigned to his look, in order to
follow her line of thought, about him, to create a positive
impression on her, but this last option, of inferring the meaning she
assigned to his look, seemed highly improbable to him. He calculated
the probability of him continuing the conversation in a direction to
reach safer grounds to be infinitesimal, and moved on to the last
case.
If she thought he looked
at her like someone who did not know what he wanted, which, as
mentioned before, was the worst case considered, by him, in this
analysis, then this would most probably imply, for her, that he, not
knowing what he wanted, was not worth the conversation. He concluded
that, in this case, he would reach a dead end, unless he could find another way to demonstrate, to her, that he was someone who knows
what he wants. Seeing that, under the assumptions of this case, he
would have failed to show her that he was someone who knows what he
wants, by looking, at her, like someone who knows what he wants, he
calculated the probability of him finding another, and more
effective, way of demonstrating her that he knew what he wanted, to
be infinitesimal.
Considering all the cases
carefully, using infinitesimal calculus, and ignoring the Bayes'
theorem of probability (whereby he restricted his final results to
the cases where he did not reach a dead end), he decided to open a
conversation, as unrelated to his look at her, like someone who knows
what he wants, as possible.
This desperate attempt,
as well as its consequences, are beyond the scope of this analysis.
Suffice it to say here that it was not related to what he wanted.
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