Does it actually matter whether you flirt with someone or not in order for them to (potentially) develop feelings for you? A lot of people have told me it’s intrinsic, as in “If they like you, they like you.” So you should just treat the person you’re interested in like you would any other person.
So if it all comes down to connection and looks, doesn’t that make flirting a bit redundant?
Edit: To clarify, I see flirting as banter to make sexual/romantic intentions known.
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.