Let's try to understand one of the oddest, most painful, most widespread phenomena in love.
It's going on right this moment between a couple, let's say he, a dentist, she, a nutritionist in Rio de Janeiro.
Two teenagers are at it in Canberra.
There's a pair involved in the rigmarole in downtown Dakar, another in Svalbard, another still in Winnipeg.
If every time it happened, a light went on, most of the Earth would be aglow from space.
We can refer to the phenomenon as push-pull or stop-start, or sometimes distance management.
The structure is identical and fairly predictable.
Growing intimacy, then retreat.
Altitude, then a drop.
Two good days, then a fight.
