Amazon.co.uk Review
In his
Notebooks, Lazarus Long argues that "Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death".
The Darwin Awards offers proof of just how stupid mankind can be. Taking its title from the cult Web site of the same name which Northcutt set up in 1993, the book offers a collection of cautionary tales of intensely stupid behaviour. Loosely based on Darwin's theory of natural selection, the idea behind the Darwin Awards is that a person can be so stupid that it would be detrimental to the human race for their genes to survive. If, therefore, someone was to behave so stupidly that they died or rendered themselves unable to reproduce, they would be doing the rest of us a favour by removing themselves from the gene pool. It is this self-sacrifice which the Web site--and now the book--applauds and rewards, although, of course, nearly all Darwin Awards are necessarily posthumous. As the book's introduction explains: "If someone does manage to survive an incredibly stupid feat, then his genes
de facto must have something to offer [and] he is therefore not eligible for a Darwin award".
Having explained the basic premise behind the awards, the book catalogues examples of foolish, and often extremely funny, misadventures in sections such as watery deaths, fatal ingenuity and sex-related incidents. What sets the Darwin Awards apart from other apparently similar books of urban myths is the care taken by Northcutt to verify the stories which are then classified as "confirmed" (by reputable newspaper articles, or confirmed TV reports), "unconfirmed" and "urban myths". On top of this, the book draws on surveys carried out on the Web site to provide a glimpse into the thoughts of those who use it, strengthening the air that this is more than just fun, it is light-hearted research into the way people think. --Anoushka Alexander
Product Description
'Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe.' Albert Einstein, Scientific adviser to the Darwin Awards One of the best known and most frequently visited web sites is the Darwin Awards web site. Practically everyone who is on the net has received a Darwin story in their e-mail at one time or another. It is one of those legendary sites which has become part of the fabric of being on-line. Started in 1993 by biologist Wendy Northcutt she set out to collect together and authenticate stories of individuals around the world who, through their stupidity, have 'removed themselves from the gene pool' (i.e. killed themselves). These are the people for whom warnings such as 'coffee is hot' and 'this superman cape does not enable the wearer to fly' were made. This is black humour elevated to its purest commercial form. There are rules here too. The candidate must: exhibit astounding misapplication of judgement; remove himself/herself from the gene pool; be capable of sound judgement; be self selecting (i.e. it was their fault) and the event must be verifiable. The book will contain four types of stories: The Darwin Awards; Honourable mentions; urban legends; personal accounts. The introduction will explain the nature and origin of the awards then the stories will be divided into 18 chapters, ranging from Testosterone Poisoning: Men at Risk; Junk Food Junkie: Food and Drink; Dangerous Liaisons: Unsafe Sex; The Fairer Sex: Femme Fatalities; Argue with God: Science and Religion; Dirty Job: Death at Work and I Fought the Law: Stupid Criminal Tricks. Each chapter will be have a funny introduction and one in six stories will have an 'serious' discussion of its veracity. There will be over 150 stories: ten new stories and the rest from the site.
by Wendy Northcutt
