Mandy Len Catron

I just like remember this moment of, oh no, I love him.

I just like remember this moment of, oh no, I love him.

We spoke on the phone many times because I was very, very reluctant and very shy and not ready. So we had months and months of phone dates, and they were spectacular. We laughed. We had so much oxytocin flying through the air. It was just deliriously wonderful. And we fell in love and we're getting married this summer in our backyard.

We spoke on the phone many times because I was very, very reluctant and very shy and not ready. So we had months and months of phone dates, and they were spectacular. We laughed. We had so much oxytocin flying through the air. It was just deliriously wonderful. And we fell in love and we're getting married this summer in our backyard.

No, not under any circumstances could I have possibly imagined any of it. Yeah. Really, I have heard from people all over the world since the article came out, especially in the first couple of years. Like I've gotten a significant number of emails from people who got married. Like I've had people send me their wedding photos.

No, not under any circumstances could I have possibly imagined any of it. Yeah. Really, I have heard from people all over the world since the article came out, especially in the first couple of years. Like I've gotten a significant number of emails from people who got married. Like I've had people send me their wedding photos.

Yeah, I mean, and this was like, like Mark and I weren't married and I thought, oh, wow, like this is amazing. I don't know. I kind of think about it as something that exists apart from me. It came out at a time where a lot of people were dating online and there was this kind of craving for intimacy. I think online dating can feel... really dehumanizing at times.

Yeah, I mean, and this was like, like Mark and I weren't married and I thought, oh, wow, like this is amazing. I don't know. I kind of think about it as something that exists apart from me. It came out at a time where a lot of people were dating online and there was this kind of craving for intimacy. I think online dating can feel... really dehumanizing at times.

Like we're going down the checklist, we're objectifying one another and looking for somebody who meets these predetermined criteria. And this is kind of the opposite of that. And so I think it kind of struck a chord.

Like we're going down the checklist, we're objectifying one another and looking for somebody who meets these predetermined criteria. And this is kind of the opposite of that. And so I think it kind of struck a chord.

To fall in love with anyone, do this. More than 20 years ago, the psychologist Arthur Aaron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory. Last summer, I applied his technique in my own life, which is how I found myself standing on a bridge at midnight, staring into a man's eyes for exactly four minutes. Let me explain.

To fall in love with anyone, do this. More than 20 years ago, the psychologist Arthur Aaron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory. Last summer, I applied his technique in my own life, which is how I found myself standing on a bridge at midnight, staring into a man's eyes for exactly four minutes. Let me explain.

Earlier in the evening, that man had said, I suspect, given a few commonalities, you could fall in love with anyone. If so, how do you choose someone? He was a university acquaintance I occasionally ran into at the climbing gym and had thought, what if? I had gotten a glimpse into his days on Instagram, but this was the first time we had hung out one-on-one.

Earlier in the evening, that man had said, I suspect, given a few commonalities, you could fall in love with anyone. If so, how do you choose someone? He was a university acquaintance I occasionally ran into at the climbing gym and had thought, what if? I had gotten a glimpse into his days on Instagram, but this was the first time we had hung out one-on-one.

Actually, psychologists have tried making people fall in love. I said, it's fascinating. I've always wanted to try it. I first read about the study when I was in the midst of a breakup. Each time I thought of leaving, my heart overruled my brain. I felt stuck. So, like a good academic, I turned to science, hoping there was a way to love smarter. I explain the study to my university acquaintance.

Actually, psychologists have tried making people fall in love. I said, it's fascinating. I've always wanted to try it. I first read about the study when I was in the midst of a breakup. Each time I thought of leaving, my heart overruled my brain. I felt stuck. So, like a good academic, I turned to science, hoping there was a way to love smarter. I explain the study to my university acquaintance.

A heterosexual man and woman enter the lab through separate doors. They sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stare silently into each other's eyes for four minutes. The most tantalizing detail? Six months later, two participants were married. They invited the entire lab to the ceremony. Let's try it, he said.

A heterosexual man and woman enter the lab through separate doors. They sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stare silently into each other's eyes for four minutes. The most tantalizing detail? Six months later, two participants were married. They invited the entire lab to the ceremony. Let's try it, he said.

Let me acknowledge the ways our experiment already fails to line up with the study. First, we were in a bar, not a lab. Second, we weren't strangers. Not only that, but I see now that one neither suggests nor agrees to try an experiment designed to create romantic love if one isn't open to this happening. I googled Dr. Aaron's questions. There are 36. They begin innocuously.

Let me acknowledge the ways our experiment already fails to line up with the study. First, we were in a bar, not a lab. Second, we weren't strangers. Not only that, but I see now that one neither suggests nor agrees to try an experiment designed to create romantic love if one isn't open to this happening. I googled Dr. Aaron's questions. There are 36. They begin innocuously.