This stuff seems more important than the prize indicates. It points to the physical body being as important as the mind's internal state when it comes to one's sense of self and the world around oneself. Also I like this statement:
> "Higashiyama has misgivings about current-day psychology. Many studies place importance on overt, conscious actions like seeing and listening. And some psychologists conclude that people are of one personality type or another based on questionnaires that lack evidence, and which are therefore indistinguishable from fortune-telling."
Some of the prizes are for satire, but many Ig Nobel prizes are for research that sounds absurd but actually had a valuable discovery of some sort. Despite the jokey vibe they do try to give attention to things which deserve the attention.
> "Higashiyama has misgivings about current-day psychology. Many studies place importance on overt, conscious actions like seeing and listening. And some psychologists conclude that people are of one personality type or another based on questionnaires that lack evidence, and which are therefore indistinguishable from fortune-telling."