There's been some debate lately about Assuming Attraction, largely between TonyD and JoshSway, and it occurred to me that the main problem with the rule is that people may be applying it out of context. Here's a couple of examples of Assuming Attraction gone wrong:

Example 1:

AFC: How do you recover if a girl doesn't laugh at a joke?

KJ: Just assume attraction, bro. You just told a joke, and you know (by assumption) that she's now attracted, so that logic dictates that you tell another joke.

AFC: Awesome! I'll go pick up my dancing monkey card right away!

Example 2:

AFC: I tried kino with this girl (put my hand around her waist) and she pulled back. What should I have done?

KJ: Just assume attraction, bro. She's attracted, so pulling away must have been the result of just surprising her. Go for the kino again, ASAP!

AFC: Awesome! I'll go pick up my touchy creeper card right away!

And here's an example of when Assume Attraction is the correct answer:

AFC: There's this girl who's a friend of a friend, I've seen her 2-3 times at parties and stuff, and while she always smiles at me and is nice, she hasn't gone out of her way to talk to me. She's kinda out of my league too, so should I even bother, or is this a lost cause?

Billy: Simply assume attraction, young padawan. Next time you see her, approach her as if you knew she'd told her friends she totally digs you.

AFC: Awesome! I'm on my way to a likely rejection!

Billy: Precisely! But that just comes with the territory.

As this hopefully demonstrates, Assume Attraction is the answer to only one sort of question: Should I bother trying? If you have more than two minutes of field experience, you know that the answer is (virtually) always yes. You've gotta be in it to win it. Not only is pickup a numbers game, meaning you need to play the game a bunch before you get a winning hand, but it also takes experience to be able to play that winning hand. You don't get experience by waiting around for sure things.

I said virtually always yes, which means in some rare instances no. If the girl lives 2000 miles away, she's a complete time sink, not worth it. If she's your psycho ex who might want to hook up away, again, the answer is no. You get the picture. In situations where you shouldn't go for it even if the girl is attracted, then it doesn't do you any good to assume attraction.

Because the name of the Assume Attraction rule seems to be confusing some people and creating a bit of controversy, I'm proposing a new rule in its place: The Johnny Drama Rule:

Johnny Drama: You think I got a shot at this?

Adam Davies: You're Johnny Drama. You always got a shot.

Instead of assuming attraction, assume you've got a shot. That means you still have to pay attention to her IOIs and IODs. You have to calibrate. You have to bring your A game. And, you have to think about opportunity costs. But unless you've got a reason not to go for it better than "She might say no," then you go for it.