I think almost everyone goes through the PUA-ey stage initially. Hopefully they come out the other end without too much harm being done. But it's maybe an important part of the learning curve and you can't simply miss it out.

I feel as if I'm coming out the other end of it now. You learn the 'rules' first then once you have more context through experience you can break them. The danger is you continue to stick to the rules thinking there's a right and wrong way.

The worst bit about pua is the idea that game can be used to attract any girl. If you don't attract her then the inplication is you're game needs improved or fixed in some way...enter the marketing of pua products to provide the answers.

In reality, nine times out of 10 you did absolutely nothing wrong. The girl was just unavailable or not interested in you and never would be, no matter how tight your game was.