“Promote the evolution of the human species by eliminating the stupidity gene”: this is the objective of this astonishing list which distinguishes the most idiotic deaths through anecdotes as tragic as they are comical.
You probably know the Nobels, the Oscars, the Molière awards or even the Grammy Awards, these prizes awarded each year either to people who have contributed to the progress of humanity, or to artists from cinema, theater or music. But have you ever heard of the Darwin Awards? Far from the glitter, the red carpets and the television cameras, these very special – and eminently sarcastic – awards distinguish… the dead! More specifically, stupid deaths, caused by stupid behavior.
Imagined in the 1980s, these inglorious distinctions obviously refer to Charles Darwin, author of the famous theory of evolution which is based on the principle of natural selection. Although very cynical, their concept is simple: it consists of rewarding individuals who, through their disappearance, have “contributed to the overall improvement of the human genetic heritage”. By eliminating the genes for stupidity from human genetics, we promote the evolution of the species, a bit as if nature itself were responsible for selecting those most fit to survive!
The Darwin Awards list is a parade of examples, both tragic and comic, often incomprehensible, of acts of extreme stupidity. Quite popular in the 1990s and 2000s, they were listed on a dedicated sitemaintained by Wendy Northcutt, who has published several works on the subject. If it has been less or less in disuse for some time, it still contains hundreds of often dismaying stories collected all over the world. Here is a little anthology.
In the United States, a man climbed onto the roof of his house to carry out some repairs. Cautiously, he had thought of previously tying himself with a rope to a fixed and solid object, in this case, the bumper of the family car. Unaware of this precautionary measure, his wife went shopping in the car, dragging her husband into his fatal and spectacular fall.
Still in Uncle Sam’s country, rich in juicy anecdotes, a couple who were not bored during a car trip had the strange idea of lighting a stick of dynamite to throw it in the countryside, just to distract. Unfortunately, the windows were stuck, and they jumped with their vehicle. In Poland, a clever and hasty fisherman plunged an electric cable into a river to electrocute fish. An effective process until the moment he slipped into the water…
In Brazil, a reverend in search of a record decided to fly through the air attached to 1000 balloons inflated with helium. Everything was going well until he got lost in the sky. Carried away by the winds, without directional control, he disappeared from radar and his body was found several months later, washed up on the coast.
And the list goes on. We could talk about this man who stuck his head in the sewer to find his fallen keys, who got stuck and drowned in 50 cm of water. Of this Canadian notary who, wanting to prove the solidity of his superb safety glass, threw himself against the window, which broke away under the impact, and which crashed 24 floors below. These employees responsible for examining a gas leak in a warehouse who, for lack of light, light a lighter. Or even this videographer who wanted to film skydivers in flight while forgetting to take a parachute before jumping.
As many have pointed outsome Darwin Awards stories are exaggerated or even completely invented, thus forming urban legends. Regardless, they all illustrate irresponsible and dangerous behavior which reminds us that while physics has its unavoidable laws, stupidity is a choice. Albert Einstein clearly noted this when he said that only human stupidity was infinite.