Plausible deniability, dude. It's much easier to dispel the awkwardness of rejection if you can reasonably fall back on the claim that, hey, maybe coffee was all you wanted anyway. Successful courtship depends on making the other person feel comfortable around you; it's a human relationship, not resource extraction, and it has to be framed in appropriate terms. (Edit: oh, sorry, I thought I was replying to advancedatheist; removed a sentence that assumed this.)
In table format. The second strategy is much more likely to lead to (2,1) than to (2,2).
I get that it's not resource extraction, but its not espionage either, and I personally don't see the need for 'I can neither confirm nor deny that I want sex'.
I also get that its about making people feel comfortable. I'm more comfortable if people are fairly upfront about what they want, but I get that it's just me who feels this way. I'm really bad at picking up on subtext, I have conversations like this:
Other person: "We're spending a lot of time together, its almost like we're being a couple."
Me: "Yeah, we have been hanging out a lot.&qu...
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