In Mandy Len Catron’s Modern Love essay, “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This,” she refers to a study by the psychologist Arthur Aron (and others) that explores whether intimacy between two strangers can be accelerated by having them ask each other a specific series of personal questions. The 36 questions in the study are broken up into three sets, with each set intended to be more probing than the previous one.

The following questions are part of a follow-up study to see whether the intimacy between two committed partners can be broken down by forcing them to ask each other thirty-six questions no one in a relationship should actually ask.

Set I

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you like to punch in the face?

On average, how long do you spend composing tweets before you post them? Do you realize that they don’t matter?

Before responding to a text, do you wait a few minutes to make it seem like you’re doing something more important? Why? Answer me now.

What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? Why do we always just go home and watch Netflix instead of doing any of that stuff?

What’s your favorite song? No, it’s not. I’ve never once heard you listen to that song.

Honestly, which one of us would you rather have die first?

So you want me to be the one who becomes a burden to our children and then dies alone?

Name three things you find irritating about your partner.

Why do we even have a dishwasher if you insist on thoroughly scrubbing the dishes before putting them in? O.K., fine, I’m adding your dishwasher issue to my list of irritating things, too. So there.

If you could change anything about your partner’s family, what would it be?

Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible. I already know that story. And I was there for that one. It didn’t happen like that.