An event was held in Tokyo on the 17th in which the Nobel Prize laureate and his parody Ig Nobel Prize winner had a dialogue and exchanged opinions on the importance of intellectual curiosity.
Held at the National Museum of Japan Emerging Science and Innovation in Koto-ku, Tokyo, the event was held as an official event of the Ig Nobel Prize, which is a parody of the Nobel Prize for unique research, and together with the four Ig Nobel Prize winners, physicist Takaaki Kajita, who won the Nobel Prize in 4, spoke on the theme of "Why do we do science?"
Among them, Kazuki Kurihara, a professor at Tsuda University who invented a device to silence noisy people who talk loudly in 2012 and won the Ig Nobel Prize, said, "I can't think of any reason why I do science other than intellectual curiosity, but my inferiority complex is also a strong driving force.
In response, Mr. Kajita said, "Intellectual curiosity is the driving force behind research, but positivity is also important, and if you think negatively, it usually doesn't work," referring to his memories of a major failure in research more than 20 years ago.
After the interview, Mr. Kajita said, "I strongly felt that I had something in common with the winner of the Ig Nobel Prize, and I think it is important to have an environment where diverse research can be conducted based on intellectual curiosity."