Darwin Awards
Encyclopedia
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
honor, created by Wendy Northcutt
Wendy Northcutt
Wendy Northcutt is an author of a series of books on the Darwin Awards and the creator of the DarwinAwards.com website.-Education:...
to recognize individuals who contribute to human evolution by self-selecting
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
themselves out of the gene pool
Gene pool
In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population.- Description :A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection...
through putting themselves (unnecessarily) in life-threatening situations. A book series is paralleled by a website, "www.DarwinAwards.com" (stylised as "www.đar̆winĀwar̆ḍs.ćōm"), whose "Rules" section explains:
Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies; however, the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." But the candidate is disqualified if "innocent bystanders", who might have contributed positively to the gene pool, are killed in the process.
The Darwin Awards books state that an attempt is made to disallow known urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
s from the awards, but some older "winners" have been 'grandfathered
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
' to keep their awards. The Darwin Awards site does try to verify all submitted stories, but many similar sites, and the vast number of circulating "Darwin awards" emails, are largely fictional.
History
The Awards have circulated since 1985 as emails and UsenetUsenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
group discussions; the Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
Usenet archive records two early mentions of Darwin Awards, 7 August 1985 Vending Machine Tipover and 7 December 1990 JATO Rocket Car urban legend. The JATO legend
JATO Rocket Car
The account of the JATO Rocket Car was one of the original Darwin Awards winners: a man who supposedly met his death in a spectacular manner after mounting a rocket engine on a common automobile. It was originally circulated as a forwarded email....
was widely distributed via emails from 1995–97. Several anonymously authored email lists titled (for example) 1999 Darwin Awards have appeared annually since 1991. There are several websites that record "Darwin Awards".
Inability to reproduce
- Nominee must be dead or rendered sterile.
- Sometimes this can be a matter of dispute. Potential awardees may be out of the gene pool due to age; others have already reproduced before their deaths. To avoid debates about the possibility of in-vitro fertilization, artificial inseminationArtificial inseminationArtificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
, or cloningHuman cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, the original Darwin Awards book applied the following "deserted island" test to potential winners: If the person were unable to reproduce when stranded on a deserted island with a fertile member of the opposite sex, he or she would be considered sterile. Winners of the award, in general, either are dead or become unable to use their sexual organs.
Excellence
- Astoundingly stupid judgment.
- The candidate's foolishness must be unique and sensational, likely because the award is intended to be funny. A number of foolish but common activities, such as smoking in bed, are excluded from consideration. In contrast, self-immolationSelf-immolationSelf-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...
caused by smoking after being administered a flammable ointment in a hospital and specifically told not to smoke is grounds for nomination. One 'Honorable Mention' (a man who attempted suicide by swallowing nitroglycerine pills, and then tried to detonate them by running into a wall) is noted to be in this category, despite being intentional and self-inflicted, which would normally disqualify the inductee.
Self-selection
- Cause of one's own demise.
- Killing a friend with a hand grenadeHand grenadeA hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
would not be eligible, but killing oneself while manufacturing a homemade chimneyChimneyA chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
-cleaning device from a grenade would be eligible. To earn a Darwin Award, the candidate must have killed him- or herself, rather than a third party.
Maturity
- Capable of sound judgment.
- The nominee must be at least past the legal driving age and free of mental defectMental retardationMental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
(Northcutt considers injury or death caused by mental defect to be tragic, rather than amusing, and routinely disqualifies such entries). After much discussion, there also exists a small category regarding deaths below this age limit. Entry into this category requires that the peers of the candidate be of the opinion that the actions of the person in question were above and beyond the limits of reason in their opinions.
Veracity
- The event must be verified.
- The story must be documented by reliable sources: e.g., reputable newspaper articles, confirmed television reports, or responsible eyewitnesses. If a story is found to be untrue, it is disqualified, but particularly amusing ones are placed in the urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
section of the archives. Despite this requirement, many of the stories are fictional, often appearing as "original submissions" and presenting no further sources than unverified (and unreliable) "eyewitnesses". Most such stories on Northcutt's Darwin Awards site are filed in the Personal Accounts section.
In addition, later revisions to the qualification criteria add several requirements that have not been made into formalized 'rules': innocent bystanders cannot be in danger, and the qualifying event must be caused without deliberate intent (to prevent glory-seekers from purposely injuring themselves solely to win a Darwin).
Examples
Examples of Darwin award winners include:- Juggling live hand grenadeHand grenadeA hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s (CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, 2001) - Leaving a lit cigarette in a warehouse full of explosives (PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, 1999) - Three Palestinian terrorists accidentally blown up by their bombs set on Palestinian daylight saving time, one hour ahead of the local time (IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, 1999) - Jumping out of a plane to film skydiversParachutingParachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
without wearing a parachute (U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 1987) - Trying to get enough light to look down the barrel of a loaded muzzle-loaded gun using a cigarette lighter (U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 1996) - Using a lighter to illuminate a fuel tank to make sure it contains nothing flammable (BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, 2003) - Attempting to play Russian rouletteRussian rouletteRussian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
with a semi-automatic pistol that automatically loads the next round into the chamber - Attempting Russian roulette with an unexploded landmine
- Crashing through a window and falling to one's death in trying to demonstrate that the window was unbreakable
Northcutt's Darwin Awards site gives "Honorable Mentions" to people who survive their misadventures with their reproductive capacity intact, by luck or chance. One example is Lawnchair Larry
Larry Walters
Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed "Lawnchair Larry" or the "Lawn Chair Pilot", was an American truck driver who took flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade airship. Dubbed Inspiration I, the "flying machine" consisted of an ordinary patio chair with 45 helium-filled weather balloons attached to it...
, who attached helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
filled weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
s to a lawn chair and floated far above Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, in July 1982. He reached an altitude of 16000 feet (4,876.8 m) and was later fined for crossing controlled airspace
Controlled airspace
Controlled airspace is an aviation term used to describe airspace in which ATChas the authority to control air traffic, the level of which varies with the different classes of airspace. Controlled airspace is established mainly for three different reasons:...
. Another notable honorable mention was given to the two men who attempted to burgle the home of "hard man" footballer Duncan Ferguson
Duncan Ferguson
Duncan Cowan Ferguson is a Scottish former footballer. He was notorious for his "hardman" image and nicknamed "Big Dunc" and "Duncan Disorderly"....
(who had four convictions for assault and had served six months in Glasgow's Barlinnie prison) in 2001, with one burglar requiring three days hospitalization after being confronted by the player.
Special winners
Each year, one award is selected as being much more "honorable" than the rest, and it is crowned as the "Darwin Award of the Year". In 2007, the winner was "The Enema Within", in which a man died of alcohol poisoning after having two 1.5 litres (3.2 US pt) bottles of sherrySherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
inserted anally.
Cultural references
The Darwin AwardsThe Darwin Awards (film)
The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name.Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival...
is a movie based on the Darwin Awards.
Charles Darwin Award
Apart from the Darwin Awards, there is also the serious ZSL Charles Darwin Award and Marsh Prize, presented by the Zoological Society of LondonZoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
to a British undergraduate student "for outstanding work in zoology."
See also
- Accident-pronenessAccident-pronenessAccident-proneness, also known as clumsiness, is the conception that some people might have predisposition, or that they might be more likely to suffer accidents, such as car crashes and industrial injuries, than other people...
- DarwinismDarwinismDarwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
- List of inventors killed by their own inventions
- Stella Awards
- 1000 Ways to Die1000 Ways to Die1000 Ways to Die is a docufiction anthology television series that premiered on May 14, 2008 on Spike. The program recreates unusual supposed deaths and debunked urban legends and includes interviews with experts who describe the science behind each death...
- List of preventable causes of death
- Death drive
- SuicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...