Dutch research into the aversion that the sound of eating fellow humans can evoke has won prizes at the Ig Nobels. These alternative Nobel Prizes were created for “achievements that first make people laugh, then think”.
The Ig Nobels have been awarded annually since 1991 and have achieved cult status among scientists. Universities proudly send out press releases when they win an Ig Nobel. Scientists are generally pleased with their Ig Nobel, including this time biologist Stephan Reber from the University of Vienna. He conducted an experiment in which an alligator made a typical low-pitched rumbling sound in a room filled with alternating air and a mixture of oxygen and helium – known from the party balloons that make your voice sound like Donald Duck. For example, Reber and his colleagues were able to demonstrate with an acoustic trick that alligators can show their peers how big they are with that typical sound. “Science should also be fun,” Reber says on the phone. “And if that fun ensures that knowledge reaches a wider audience, I think that’s fantastic.”
“Real” Nobel laureates link their names to the Ig Nobels by awarding prizes to winners. Normally this happens at Harvard University, at a bizarre ceremony where the audience throws folding airplanes and a child onstage can say “I’m bored, please put” into the microphone when speakers get too long-winded. Due to the corona crisis, this year’s winners sat behind a screen and proudly posed with a self-assembled trophy (whose building instructions were previously sent to them by PDF). A selection of the winners of 2020.
Prize for medicine
Three Dutch psychiatrists in the (then) AMC, including professor of psychiatry and philosopher Damiaan Denys.
A rare condition: misophonia. Literally it is about “hatred of sound”. Those suffering from this disease cannot tolerate it when others are audibly chewing, swallowing, breathing heavily, smacking, slurping or ramming their keyboard.
It seems funny, but that’s not the condition. According to the researchers, some people are so bothered by these man-made sounds that they become disgusted and aggressive. They should suppress the urge to yell at the source of the noise and would prefer to slap him or her to stop the noise.
Eating together with the partner or the children is often no longer an option. Going to the cinema or taking the bus is also difficult. Anyone can sink their teeth into a sandwich or apple anywhere. Sometimes the mere sight of a grinding jaw is enough to make you feel anger and disgust. As a result, the heaviest patients become socially isolated.
In the winning article in the international journal Plos One, Denys and his colleagues describe a total of 42 patients in 2013. The symptoms are so “consistent” that the researchers believe that there must be a separate illness that is separate from other mental illnesses. Incidentally, quite a few people with misophonia (22 percent) also have a compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). They also have mood disorders and anxiety symptoms more often than average.
To determine the severity of the condition, the psychiatrists designed a questionnaire, the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale. A treatment for the ailment has also been developed that seems to help about half of misophones.
People are still in the dark about what exactly the disease is. In any case, there seems to be nothing wrong with hearing. Certain stimuli, especially sound stimuli, may not be properly processed in the brain. The sounds of loved ones generally evoke more disgust and aggression than those of strangers. There is no explanation for this either. It is unclear how many people are misophone.
The authors have also been criticized for not paying enough attention to the (often unintended) consequences of launching a new disease. The Groningen psychiatrist Laura Batstra wrote in a response to the work of Denys on the opinion page of the Volkskrant: “The continuous creation of new disorders causes people with mild problems to become ill and does not help those who suffer from extreme forms of the trait. The latter group is now too often on a waiting list because psychiatry is too busy treating everyday torments and discomforts. “According to Batstra, the DSM, the handbook of psychiatric disorders, is already thick enough. “It is our collective responsibility to preserve psychiatric diagnoses and care for those with the most serious problems.”
Prize for entomology
Retired American researcher Richard S. Vetter.
That entomologists (scientists who study insects) can also be afraid of spiders.
The way they move. That they can suddenly appear. That they can run so fast. That they can bite. That they have “many legs”. Those were just some of the traits entomologists cited as the reason why they dislike spiders in retired American researcher Richard S. Vetter’s survey. The survey is not representative of entomologists; it was a questionnaire specifically aimed at scientists who voluntarily wanted to share their negative feelings about spiders. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that people who have been working with insects for years on a professional basis, can nevertheless have an aversion to spiders. This can be deeply rooted, some studies suggest, for example because someone as a child was confronted with parents who reacted frightened to spiders. Important side note: spiders do not officially belong to the insect family, but form a separate class within the arthropods. Compared to insects, spiders have two more legs. A big difference for some people in our profession, concludes the brand new Ig Nobel laureate Vetter in his study.
Price for management
Who?
Five Chinese hitmen and a businessman who did not get their potential victim killed.
Overpaying a hitman leads to problems. Paying too little too.
You will also be jailed for years as a subcontractor for a contract murder. A Chinese businessman offered a hitman 2 million yuan (247 thousand euros) in 2013 to eliminate a competitor. The hitman decided to pass the assignment to a second hitman for half the price. The second passed the job on to a third, the third contracted a fourth, and the fourth outsourced the job to number five. He was so upset about the low price (now converted about 12 thousand euros) that he approached the victim and advised him to stage his own death. This way the police tracked down all those involved. They spend between 2.5 and 5 years in prison for attempted murder.
Price for economy
Scottish social psychologist Chistopher D. Watkins and colleagues.
Romantic couples and couples in countries with high income inequality consider French kissing more important than couples in affluent countries. They also do it more often.
It sheds new light on why people kiss. One theory is that French kissing is all about choosing the right partner. Exchanging saliva helps to choose a healthy partner who is genetically right for you. Other scientists think that tongues is all about bonding: strengthening the mutual bond once the relationship is established.
If we tongued to select the right partner, we would do it mostly during courtship. This is not the case in this study. And so French kissing is all about bonding. The fact that couples in less developed countries place more value on French kissing also indicates the importance of bonding. It is in line with the theory that couples put more energy into each other the more difficult economic conditions are.
