PROTOCOL 12 – PUBLIC RESEARCH DIVISION
The Slow Titration
Deep questions for a couple at dinner
LAB RECORD – RUN AT WILL
EST. DURATION: ONE DINNER
- Materials
- two subjects, one table, minimal phones
- Objective
- Determine whether you actually know the person across from you, or only the summary of them you've been running on since year two.
Procedure
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Order food that takes a while. The experiment requires runtime.
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Ask, in order. Do not skip ahead. Skipping ahead is how the standard model gets you.
- What's something you changed your mind about this year and didn't tell me?
- Which version of us – some past month, some past place – would you visit for an afternoon if you could?
- What do I do that you've decided to find endearing on purpose?
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Extension set, for tables still occupied:
- What are you quietly practicing to get better at, and why haven't I heard about it?
- What's a compliment you received once and never metabolized?
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Do not fact-check any answer at the table. Log first; dispute never.
Expected results
At least one answer you did not have on file. Log it. This is the whole experiment.
Findings worth keeping? Some of what surfaces in a protocol – the story, the detail they'd be embarrassed you noticed – is exactly the raw material the synthesis division turns into a finished song about them. The Lab merely notes the pipeline exists.
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