Thirty-Six Questions

The column "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This" from the New York Times "Modern Love" series has gone viral.  The essay was by a woman who participated in a study by psychologist Arthur Aron that suggests the intimacy between two people can be accelerated by staring into someone's eyes for four minutes and answering a series of thirty-six personal questions.  Earlier this month, Daniel Jones, the editor of the series, published the list of questions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

While I think there is merit that people can feel closer to another person by sharing details, I am not sure I buy that this guarantees falling in love.  Perhaps I am the most skeptical, least romantic person in North America.   If I were to answer these questions with my parents, brother or kids, would I fall in love with them?  (Ick, by the way.)  No offense to members of my immediate family, but I sure hope not.

What if I were to take this test with someone I was completely incompatible with, let's say someone from another state who views domestic violence as a reasonable way of controlling a partner?  Could I fall in love with a Neanderthal?  I hope not.

What if I were to take this test with a husband of my friends?  Would I pack it up and leave Jack for a neighbor after a long dinner conversation?  Could this test cause someone to fall out of love with their spouse and in love with someone they just met?  Maybe it does, and that could be scary.  Could this be the magic love potion the world is looking for, or is this snake oil?  Or, it is a combination of the two?  (Maybe this is what poor Taylor Swift needs, to sit down with some reasonable, available young man and become vulnerable.  I saw on her Instagram account that she wants to meet 500 guys and is giving away meet and greet tickets.  That is one way to find a soulmate -- have a contest.  I digress.)

What if I were to answer these questions on my blog?  Would everyone who reads my blog fall in love with me as I share my deepest thoughts and feelings?  Would I want to?  Who would care?  If people don't fall in love after answering these questions, does love exist?

Here goes.  I'll start.   Question 1.:  Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

This doesn't give me a number of people, so I will take license and pick a few.  Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Jesus, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, all in their prime, and Hitler when he is about 23 years old.  Topic:  Why genocide is a bad idea.  Perhaps we could avoid the Holocaust.  Just a thought.

Let me know when you start to love me.