Falling in love is the easy part | Mandy Len Catron | TEDxChapmanU
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0:05 - 0:06I published this article
-
0:06 - 0:11in the New York Times Modern Love column
in January of this year. -
0:11 - 0:13"To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This."
-
0:13 - 0:15And the article
is about a psychological study -
0:15 - 0:18designed to create romantic love
in the laboratory, -
0:18 - 0:21and my own experience
trying the study myself -
0:21 - 0:23one night last summer.
-
0:23 - 0:26So the procedure is fairly simple:
-
0:26 - 0:32two strangers take turns asking each other
36 increasingly personal questions -
0:33 - 0:35and then they stare into each other's eyes
-
0:35 - 0:38without speaking for four minutes.
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0:39 - 0:42So here are a couple of sample questions.
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0:42 - 0:48Number 12: If you could wake up tomorrow
having gained any one quality or ability, -
0:48 - 0:50what would it be?
-
0:50 - 0:54Number 28: When did you last cry
in front of another person? -
0:54 - 0:56By yourself?
-
0:56 - 1:00As you can see, they really do
get more personal as they go along. -
1:00 - 1:02Number 30, I really like this one:
-
1:02 - 1:05Tell your partner
what you like about them; -
1:05 - 1:07be very honest this time,
-
1:07 - 1:12saying things you might not say
to someone you just met. -
1:13 - 1:17So when I first came across this study
a few years earlier, -
1:17 - 1:19one detail really stuck out to me,
-
1:19 - 1:22and that was the rumor
that two of the participants -
1:22 - 1:25had gotten married six months later,
-
1:25 - 1:29and they'd invited the entire lab
to the ceremony. -
1:29 - 1:32So I was of course very skeptical
-
1:32 - 1:35about this process of just
manufacturing romantic love, -
1:35 - 1:38but of course I was intrigued.
-
1:38 - 1:42And when I got the chance
to try this study myself, -
1:42 - 1:45with someone I knew
but not particularly well, -
1:45 - 1:47I wasn't expecting to fall in love.
-
1:48 - 1:51But then we did, and --
-
1:51 - 1:53(Laughter)
-
1:53 - 1:57And I thought it made a good story,
so I sent it to the Modern Love column -
1:57 - 1:59a few months later.
-
1:59 - 2:02Now, this was published in January,
-
2:04 - 2:06and now it is August,
-
2:06 - 2:09so I'm guessing that some of you
are probably wondering, -
2:09 - 2:11are we still together?
-
2:11 - 2:13And the reason I think
you might be wondering this -
2:13 - 2:16is because I have been asked this question
-
2:16 - 2:20again and again and again
for the past seven months. -
2:20 - 2:24And this question is really
what I want to talk about today. -
2:24 - 2:26But let's come back to it.
-
2:26 - 2:28(Laughter)
-
2:28 - 2:31So the week before the article came out,
-
2:31 - 2:33I was very nervous.
-
2:33 - 2:36I had been working
on a book about love stories -
2:36 - 2:38for the past few years,
-
2:38 - 2:40so I had gotten used to writing
about my own experiences -
2:40 - 2:43with romantic love on my blog.
-
2:43 - 2:48But a blog post might get
a couple hundred views at the most, -
2:48 - 2:51and those were usually
just my Facebook friends, -
2:51 - 2:54and I figured my article
in the New York Times -
2:54 - 2:56would probably get a few thousand views.
-
2:58 - 3:00And that felt like a lot of attention
-
3:00 - 3:03on a relatively new relationship.
-
3:03 - 3:07But as it turned out, I had no idea.
-
3:08 - 3:10So the article was published online
-
3:10 - 3:12on a Friday evening,
-
3:12 - 3:17and by Saturday, this had happened
to the traffic on my blog. -
3:18 - 3:23And by Sunday, both the Today Show
and Good Morning America had called. -
3:24 - 3:29Within a month, the article
would receive over 8 million views, -
3:29 - 3:31and I was, to say the least,
-
3:31 - 3:35underprepared for this sort of attention.
-
3:35 - 3:38It's one thing to work up
the confidence to write honestly -
3:38 - 3:40about your experiences with love,
-
3:40 - 3:43but it is another thing to discover
-
3:43 - 3:46that your love life
has made international news -- -
3:46 - 3:47(Laughter)
-
3:47 - 3:50and to realize
that people across the world -
3:51 - 3:56are genuinely invested
in the status of your new relationship. -
3:56 - 3:58(Laughter)
-
3:58 - 4:03And when people called or emailed,
which they did every day for weeks, -
4:03 - 4:06they always asked the same question first:
-
4:06 - 4:08are you guys still together?
-
4:08 - 4:11In fact, as I was preparing this talk,
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4:11 - 4:13I did a quick search of my email inbox
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4:13 - 4:16for the phrase "Are you still together?"
-
4:16 - 4:18and several messages
popped up immediately. -
4:18 - 4:21They were from students and journalists
-
4:21 - 4:24and friendly strangers like this one.
-
4:24 - 4:26I did radio interviews and they asked.
-
4:26 - 4:30I even gave a talk, and one woman
shouted up to the stage, -
4:30 - 4:34"Hey Mandy, where's your boyfriend?"
-
4:34 - 4:36And I promptly turned bright red.
-
4:37 - 4:40I understand that this
is part of the deal. -
4:40 - 4:44If you write about your relationship
in an international newspaper, -
4:44 - 4:47you should expect people
to feel comfortable asking about it. -
4:47 - 4:52But I just wasn't prepared
for the scope of the response. -
4:52 - 4:56The 36 questions seem
to have taken on a life of their own. -
4:56 - 5:00In fact, the New York Times
published a follow-up article -
5:00 - 5:01for Valentine's Day,
-
5:01 - 5:05which featured readers' experiences
of trying the study themselves, -
5:05 - 5:08with varying degrees of success.
-
5:09 - 5:13So my first impulse
in the face of all of this attention -
5:13 - 5:16was to become very protective
of my own relationship. -
5:17 - 5:20I said no to every request
for the two of us -
5:20 - 5:23to do a media appearance together.
-
5:23 - 5:25I turned down TV interviews,
-
5:25 - 5:28and I said no to every request
for photos of the two us. -
5:28 - 5:31I think I was afraid that we would become
-
5:31 - 5:35inadvertent icons
for the process of falling in love, -
5:35 - 5:39a position I did not at all
feel qualified for. -
5:40 - 5:42And I get it:
-
5:42 - 5:45people didn't just want to know
if the study worked, -
5:45 - 5:48they wanted to know if it really worked:
-
5:48 - 5:53that is, if it was capable
of producing love that would last, -
5:53 - 5:58not just a fling, but real love,
sustainable love. -
5:59 - 6:03But this was a question
I didn't feel capable of answering. -
6:03 - 6:05My own relationship
was only a few months old, -
6:05 - 6:10and I felt like people were asking
the wrong question in the first place. -
6:12 - 6:16What would knowing whether or not
we were still together really tell them? -
6:16 - 6:17If the answer was no,
-
6:17 - 6:21would it make the experience
of doing these 36 questions -
6:21 - 6:23any less worthwhile?
-
6:24 - 6:27Dr. Arthur Aron first wrote
about these questions -
6:27 - 6:30in this study here in 1997,
-
6:31 - 6:36and here, the researcher's goal
was not to produce romantic love. -
6:36 - 6:38Instead, they wanted to foster
-
6:38 - 6:42interpersonal closeness
among college students, -
6:42 - 6:44by using what Aron called
-
6:44 - 6:49"sustained, escalating, reciprocal,
personalistic self-disclosure." -
6:50 - 6:52Sounds romantic, doesn't it?
-
6:53 - 6:55But the study did work.
-
6:55 - 6:58The participants
did feel closer after doing it, -
6:58 - 7:03and several subsequent studies have also
used Aron's fast friends protocol -
7:03 - 7:07as a way to quickly create
trust and intimacy between strangers. -
7:07 - 7:11They've used it between members
of the police and members of community, -
7:11 - 7:15and they've used it between people
of opposing political ideologies. -
7:15 - 7:17The original version of the story,
-
7:17 - 7:20the one that I tried last summer,
-
7:20 - 7:24that pairs the personal questions
with four minutes of eye contact, -
7:24 - 7:26was referenced in this article,
-
7:26 - 7:29but unfortunately it was never published.
-
7:30 - 7:33So a few months ago, I was giving a talk
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7:33 - 7:35at a small liberal arts college,
-
7:35 - 7:38and a student came up to me afterwards
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7:38 - 7:40and he said, kind of shyly,
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7:41 - 7:45"So, I tried your study,
and it didn't work." -
7:46 - 7:49He seemed a little mystified by this.
-
7:49 - 7:53"You mean, you didn't fall in love
with the person you did it with?" I asked. -
7:54 - 7:56"Well..." He paused.
-
7:56 - 7:59"I think she just wants to be friends."
-
8:01 - 8:04"But did you become
better friends?" I asked. -
8:04 - 8:08"Did you feel like you got to really
know each other after doing the study?" -
8:08 - 8:10He nodded.
-
8:10 - 8:12"So, then it worked," I said.
-
8:12 - 8:16I don't think this is the answer
he was looking for. -
8:17 - 8:21In fact, I don't think this is the answer
that any of us are looking for -
8:21 - 8:23when it comes to love.
-
8:23 - 8:25I first came across this study
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8:25 - 8:27when I was 29
-
8:27 - 8:30and I was going through
a really difficult breakup. -
8:30 - 8:33I had been in the relationship
since I was 20, -
8:33 - 8:35which was basically my entire adult life,
-
8:35 - 8:38and he was my first real love,
-
8:38 - 8:42and I had no idea how or if
I could make a life without him. -
8:43 - 8:45So I turned to science.
-
8:45 - 8:49I researched everything I could find
about the science of romantic love, -
8:49 - 8:54and I think I was hoping that it might
somehow inoculate me from heartache. -
8:55 - 8:58I don't know if I realized
this at the time -- -
8:59 - 9:02I thought I was just doing research
for this book I was writing -- -
9:02 - 9:05but it seems really obvious in retrospect.
-
9:05 - 9:09I hoped that if I armed myself
with the knowledge of romantic love, -
9:09 - 9:15I might never have to feel
as terrible and lonely as I did then. -
9:16 - 9:20And all this knowledge
has been useful in some ways. -
9:20 - 9:23I am more patient with love.
I am more relaxed. -
9:23 - 9:27I am more confident
about asking for what I want. -
9:27 - 9:30But I can also see myself more clearly,
-
9:30 - 9:35and I can see that what I want
is sometimes more -
9:35 - 9:37than can reasonably be asked for.
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9:38 - 9:41What I want from love is a guarantee,
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9:41 - 9:44not just that I am loved today
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9:44 - 9:46and that I will be loved tomorrow,
-
9:46 - 9:52but that I will continue to be loved
by the person I love indefinitely. -
9:53 - 9:56Maybe it's this possibility of a guarantee
-
9:56 - 9:58that people were really asking about
-
9:58 - 10:02when they wanted to know
if we were still together. -
10:02 - 10:06So the story that the media told
about the 36 questions -
10:06 - 10:10was that there might be
a shortcut to falling in love. -
10:10 - 10:13There might be a way to somehow
mitigate some of the risk involved, -
10:13 - 10:16and this is a very appealing story,
-
10:16 - 10:19because falling in love feels amazing,
-
10:19 - 10:21but it's also terrifying.
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10:22 - 10:24The moment you admit to loving someone,
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10:24 - 10:27you admit to having a lot to lose,
-
10:28 - 10:32and it's true that these questions
do provide a mechanism -
10:32 - 10:35for getting to know someone quickly,
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10:35 - 10:37which is also a mechanism for being known,
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10:37 - 10:41and I think this is the thing
that most of us really want from love: -
10:41 - 10:46to be known, to be seen, to be understood.
-
10:47 - 10:49But I think when it comes to love,
-
10:49 - 10:53we are too willing to accept
the short version of the story. -
10:53 - 10:56The version of the story that asks,
"Are you still together?" -
10:56 - 11:00and is content with a yes or no answer.
-
11:01 - 11:03So rather than that question,
-
11:03 - 11:07I would propose we ask
some more difficult questions, -
11:07 - 11:08questions like:
-
11:09 - 11:12How do you decide who deserves your love
-
11:12 - 11:13and who does not?
-
11:14 - 11:17How do you stay in love
when things get difficult, -
11:17 - 11:21and how do you know
when to just cut and run? -
11:21 - 11:23How do you live with the doubt
-
11:23 - 11:26that inevitably creeps
into every relationship, -
11:26 - 11:28or even harder,
-
11:28 - 11:30how do you live with your partner's doubt?
-
11:31 - 11:35I don't necessarily know
the answers to these questions, -
11:35 - 11:40but I think they're an important start
at having a more thoughtful conversation -
11:40 - 11:42about what it means to love someone.
-
11:43 - 11:46So, if you want it,
-
11:46 - 11:49the short version of the story
of my relationship is this: -
11:50 - 11:53a year ago, an acquaintance
and I did a study -
11:53 - 11:56designed to create romantic love,
-
11:56 - 11:58and we fell in love,
-
11:58 - 12:00and we are still together,
-
12:00 - 12:02and I am so glad.
-
12:03 - 12:07But falling in love is not
the same thing as staying in love. -
12:08 - 12:11Falling in love is the easy part.
-
12:12 - 12:16So at the end of my article, I wrote,
"Love didn't happen to us. -
12:16 - 12:19We're in love because we each
made the choice to be." -
12:19 - 12:23And I cringe a little
when I read that now, -
12:24 - 12:26not because it isn't true,
-
12:26 - 12:29but because at the time,
I really hadn't considered -
12:29 - 12:33everything that was contained
in that choice. -
12:33 - 12:38I didn't consider how many times
we would each have to make that choice, -
12:38 - 12:41and how many times I will continue
to have to make that choice -
12:41 - 12:46without knowing whether or not
he will always choose me. -
12:46 - 12:51I want it to be enough to have asked
and answered 36 questions, -
12:51 - 12:56and to have chosen to love someone
so generous and kind and fun -
12:56 - 13:01and to have broadcast that choice
in the biggest newspaper in America. -
13:03 - 13:05But what I have done instead
is turn my relationship -
13:05 - 13:09into the kind of myth
I don't quite believe in. -
13:09 - 13:13And what I want, what perhaps
I will spend my life wanting, -
13:13 - 13:16is for that myth to be true.
-
13:17 - 13:21I want the happy ending
implied by the title to my article, -
13:21 - 13:23which is, incidentally,
-
13:23 - 13:26the only part of the article
that I didn't actually write. -
13:26 - 13:30(Laughter)
-
13:30 - 13:34But what I have instead is the chance
to make the choice to love someone, -
13:35 - 13:38and the hope that he will choose
to love me back, -
13:38 - 13:40and it is terrifying,
-
13:40 - 13:43but that's the deal with love.
-
13:43 - 13:44Thank you.
- Title:
- Falling in love is the easy part | Mandy Len Catron | TEDxChapmanU
- Description:
-
Did you know you can fall in love with anyone just by asking them 36 questions? Mandy Len Catron tried this experiment, it worked, and she wrote a viral article about it (that your mom probably sent you). But … is that real love? Did it last? And what’s the difference between falling in love and staying in love?
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:52
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