As a person who suffers badly from misophonia (which is not limited to chewing sounds) it’s pretty fucking grimly depressing to see research on it treated this way.
But as I grew older I got the more I managed my emotions better. The more I focus on the sound the more it drives me up the wall. So learning to pay less attention and not actively looking for the sounds is something I am always working on.
I can eat out, as long as person(s) with me doesn't chew loudly. I can tune out other tables.
Its bit sad that this is seen as a goofy research. Misophonia is not life ending but definitely can affect your life, especially if left alone can probably decrease life quality.
Its strange that Mysophobia - fear of germs or dirt - is something people are treating like a 'normal' disorder. Its as idiosyncratic to fear every single germ as to be agitated by arbitrary sound(s).
Why?
> “the Ig Nobel Awards are veiled criticism of trivial research”
It’s not raising awareness. It’s making light of the underlying concerns and trivializing them.
Misophonia isn’t trivial to me. It’s a significant disorder that makes my life challenging.
It’s deeply upsetting that the Ig Nobel committee would view it as within the purview of their award designations.
> We collect improbable research. Real research, about anything and everything, from everywhere. Research that’s maybe good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless.
There's typically a few serious research papers included each year.
It sound stupid, but this research was used by farmers to plan amount of food and condition for cows during winter.
So just because the research topic sounds funny it doesn't meant that it is useless.