Rebecca declines the offer, and later, once she's returned to the safety of her home country, recounts the story in a vlog (a video blog) where she calmly advises guys "don't do that", because:

"I was a single women in a foreign country in a hotel elevator with you, just you, and I—don't invite me back to your hotel room right after I finish talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner."

This sparks debate. No less than Richard Dawkins jumps into the fray, mocking those who are blowing it all out of proportion. Dawkins gets in hot water, angering lots of his fans. Watson announces she will no longer buy his books or attend his lectures.

Whatever you think of Watson's original comment, or even her latest response to Dawkins, it's hard to disagree with her fundamental point: the guy's approach was lame. Keep in mind though, Watson didn't call for a national castration day. She merely noted a specific instance of poor mating intelligence. Many a shy, geeky, nice guy may look at this incident and stop approaching women, perhaps even retreating back into their laptops. I think this would be most unfortunate. Here are 10 things they can learn from this incident:

Don't be creepy. Asking a woman to your hotel room in an elevator at four in the morning, when the woman has already announced she is tired and gave a talk earlier on being sexualized at conferences, is not smooth. In fact, stay away from confined places altogether when chatting up a woman. Not generally a good idea. And avoid language that conjures up images of potential danger, such as a hotel room. Instead, invite her to chat at your hotel lobby. Then, see where it goes. Baby steps.

Look for indicators of interest. Any dating coach will tell you how important it is to look for signals of interest. Pay attention to her state. Does she look exhausted? Does she cringe when you start talking? That's probably not the right time to put your arm around her. Interest has to be earned-- it's not something you can automatically assume you deserve. To start, here are 5 signs she wants to date you.

Women are less likely to hop in the sack with strangers. A recent study focusing on college students found many similarities between men and women in willingness to engage in a short-term sexual encounter-- but only under certain conditions. Looking just at the likelihood of accepting casual sex proposals from the participants own life experiences, men accepted casual sex offers 73% of the time whereas women did so only 40% of the time. Males who approached women for a sexual encounter were uniformly perceived as less desirable than females who approached men, being perceived by women as more physically dangerous, less likely to provide them sexual satisfaction, lower status, and less warm, than women were perceived by men. Also, using stories of famous people, the participant’s best opposite-sex friend, and strangers, women (but not men) perceived less risk from the familiar individual making the sexual proposal than from a stranger. When women considered the familiar-- and thus less risky-- proposer, they were just as likely to agree to casual sex as men were.

Build some sort of rapport first. The guy in the elevator was a complete stranger. There was zero connection. What could the guy have done to increase his chances of receptivity in this particular situation, when she clearly was not in the mood? It's hard to imagine he could have done anything, but at the very least he could have tried to make some sort of connection. Try this script on for size.

(ELEVATOR, IRELAND, 4AM. Male, Rupert, late 20's, with conference badge on, thick glasses, 70's porn mustache, and unkempt hair, stands in the corner of the elevator, head down. Female, age 30, looks tired and ready for bed. Elevator starts moving and male slowly looks up and smiles, feigning surprise)

RUPERT: Oh, hi Rebecca! I'm a huge fan of yours. I really liked your ideas earlier about skepticism...feminism...blah...blah...And I totally hear you about the guys here. They really are creepy, aren't they? [Insert witty joke here about how if you were a female at this conference you'd become a lifelong skeptic of geeky men]

WATSON: [Laughs] Yea, thanks for understanding. You were really listening to what I said earlier. What do you research?

RUPERT: Well, like you, I am really interested in skeptical...feminist...blah...blah...

WATSON: Cool! Well, actually, that reminds me of... (elevator starts opening)

RUPERT: Shoot! I really wanted to hear the rest of that. Maybe we could exchange contact info in the corridor?

WATSON: Sure!

(Both RUPERT and WATSON chat for a full 30 minutes in the corridor without exchanging numbers at all. Watson looks at her watch)

WATSON: Wow, we didn't even exchange info. You're interesting. Would you like to come to my place for some coffee?

RUPERT: Well, I am tired, but maybe we can just chat in your room for another 10 minutes?

(30 minutes later, they are still chatting...)

Stay relaxed. Watson noted how nervous the guy seemed. This, no doubt, made her feel more uncomfortable, regardless of his intentions. Best approach to make a stranger feel comfortable, especially in an enclosed space? Stay calm, cool, and collected.

Be honest about your intentions. Women: Would you rather (a) have a sexually interested guy tell you right away that he is interested in you sexually and ask you if you want to chat further (with no obligation for sex at any point), or (b) have him show sexual disinterest up until the point he seduces you, only to find out that was his plan all along?