Many people get nervous in social situations because they don't know how to start conversations or make small talk. They overthink things to the point of social paralysis. Others miss the mark at parties or when meeting new people because they think the key to being likable is impressing others with their wit, charm, and accomplishments.

However, according to Harvard Business School research, the key to being likable is asking questions. It's better to be interested in others than to try to make them interested in you.

"In fact, among the most common complaints people make after having a conversation, such as an interview, a first date, or a work meeting, is 'I wish [s/he] had asked me more questions' and 'I can't believe [s/he] didn't ask me any questions,'" Dr. Alison Wood Brooks, a behavioral research scientist and professor, writes in Harvard Business Review’s "The Surprising Power of Questions."

On a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, Wood Brooks shared 10 research-based questions designed to make people more likable. The questions are based on psychologist Arthur Aron's famous 36 questions that lead to love. Aron found that when people ask each other these questions back and forth, it can make them fall for each other more quickly. Wood Brooks later modified the questions so they could be used to get to know others in social settings and help people fall "in like" with you.

A woman making eye contact with a man she is speaking to.via Canva/Photos

"It's just ten questions that are of this flavor that many people, but I suspect lots of men don't ask," Wood Brooks said. "That is a great starting point. It's just the first turn, right? You have to actually listen to what the person says and ask follow-up questions to really deepen the conversation. But these are good questions. You could prep just one or two of them. You could carry two of them in your back pocket all the time as go-to topics for people."

1. What are you excited about lately?

2. What's something you're good at but don't like doing?

3. What's something you're bad at but love to do?

4. Is there something you'd like to learn more about?

5. Is there something you'd like to learn how to do?

6. What can we celebrate about you?

7. Has someone made you laugh recently? What happened?

8. What is something cute your [kid/friend/pet/partner] has been doing recently?

9. Did you grow up in a city?

10. Have you fallen in love with any new [music/books/movies/shows] lately?

A man in a suit with questions.via Canva/Photos

Wood Brooks' questions are effective because they're open-ended, allowing people to do what they enjoy most: talk about themselves. They also give people permission to be vulnerable, which studies show makes them more likable. Research indicates that one of the quickest ways to become more likable is to ask a question and then follow up with two more. This signals that you are genuinely interested in them. The psychological principle of reciprocal liking also supports this: we like people who like us.

What creatures have eight legs, nine brains, and dozens of fun and fascinating facts about them? Octopuses, of course. (Wait, is octopuses or octopi? Octopodes, perhaps?)

However interesting we think our suction-cupped, cephalopodic friends are, we're probably selling them short. That's the contention of Sarah, a comedic content creator on TikTok who's been sharing everything she's learned about octopuses, because they're far more bizarre than we might think.

"However impressed or fascinated you are by octopuses, it's honestly probably not enough," she says. "We are severely underreacting to octopuses collectively."

Once you see her video, it's clear she's not wrong.

Octopuses are fascinating and I DO want to hold a tiny guy if possible just putting that out in to the universe 😬🐙#creatorsearchinsights #octopus #weirdanimals #animalfacts #didyouknow

With a hilariously understated sense of humor, Sarah shares facts like the idea that octopuses don't have tentacles, as many of us have been led to believe, but arms instead. Tentacles have suckers only at the end, while an octopus's arms have them from top to bottom.

"They decorate their front yards with shells and other shiny things they find in the ocean," Sarah says, adding, "I wonder if they judge other octopuses for how they decorate their front yard. Like, is there an octopus HOA?"

Sarah points out that The Beatles' song "Octopus's Garden" was inspired by this delightful fact.

Many of us know that octopuses are smart, but we may not know that they have a brain in each arm in addition to the brain in their heads, which is shaped like a donut. They can solve mazes and complete tricky tasks. And if their beak can fit through a hole, so can their whole body.

"So a fully grown giant Pacific octopus, which can literally be 30 feet long, can fit through a hole the size of a lemon," says Sarah. "And I don't care for that, particularly. I would never say that to an octopus's face because, evidently, they can recognize us, which I find unsettling. Note to self: Do not be mean to an octopus."

Because each arm has its own brain, it can operate independently, complete with its own sensory system.

Each of those arms has its own brain?Photo credit: Canva

"I feel like they're smarter than us," Sarah says. "Are we confident they're not smarter than us? For instance, they will prank their prey. You know the joke where like old men will tap you on one shoulder, but surprise, they're at the other shoulder? Octopus do that. If they're hunting a shrimp, they'll tap it on the faraway shoulder so the shrimp runs directly into them. Like, 'gotcha!' I don't want octopus to do gotcha."

On a positive note, Sarah shows some examples of exquisitely colorful octopuses, though some of the most "fancy and beautiful" ones are also highly venomous.

That may have been the end of Sarah's video, but she wasn't finished. There's a part two that features blanket octopuses, the female superheroes of the sea. And that's not even the wildest part:

Replying to @LalainID did yall know about the blanket octopus and didn’t tell me? Except those of you who did thank you 😂 #octopus #animalfacts #science #learnontiktok........

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