You keep giving them compliments but they are not returning any, or reacting to you the way you expect them to.

Equals exchange compliments. A world-class guitarist to another. Full of praise. But a world-class guitarist is not going to get excited about your nail art no matter how much you admire his luscious hair.

A philosopher isn’t going to get excited about your beautiful eyes alone. A woman with a PhD will not get all excited about the idea of striking a friendship with a high school dropout hairdresser, no matter how much the hairdresser compliments the good doctor’s hair and nails. She’s going to thank her for the compliment and move on with her life without returning it.

Thanking for a compliment without returning it is a polite rejection of an offer of friendship or love—not stupidity or ignorance about how friendships are made.

On the other hand.

That said, if you are “a superior,” you may have trouble conveying your message to another superior, who is used to men or women faaaaawwwwning on them with their hopes of love or friendship. They assume that if you’re interested, you’re going to be pouring compliments down their throat. The problem is that when you’re both “a superior,” you’re both quite used to being hit on, but not the other way around. So I suggest you start. See how it goes. It may take a few compliments before the realization kicks in, tho. (And if you’re awkward and they laugh at you, don’t stop. Double down, and admit that normally, you’re the one fending off clueless pickup attempts, so you’re rusty being the one trying to win favors. Just point out that you are very, very sexy.)

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