Darwin Awards

Today in class I mentioned the Darwin Awards website as an example of stories and sites that poke fun at the idea of applying evolutionary theory to human behavior.

Feel free to check out the website, though use some caution in clicking on the links and stories. Though none seem to be too flagrantly inappropriate, people on the site have been recognized for killing themselves in profoundly stupid ways, which sometimes involved bad decisions about drug use or reproductive choices, so use the title of each story as a guide before exploring further. Of course, they are meant to be humorous, though sometimes its very morbid or crude humor.

The Darwin awards have been compiled into a very popular series of books and even a major motion picture, though I have seen the film and did not find it particularly entertaining. The idea of stupid deaths gets worn out pretty quickly, and that one is quite obviously not appropriate for an academic setting.