Showing posts with label Darwin Awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darwin Awards. Show all posts

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Darwin Awards

For those who enjoy morbid humor, The Darwin Awards are an entertaining way to to explore applications of evolutionary psychology. The website (and resultant books) have become popular fare for morning radio DJs hoping to fill air time and similar "stupid news" outlets.

The site is a compilation of submitted news stories (look for those marked "confirmed true" as others that have turned out to be hoaxes are still listed) about people who have met their untimely deaths in creatively stupid ways. According to the byline for the site, "The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally remove themselves from it."

Admittedly, it is a bit crass to find humor in others' deaths, and use descretion when clicking around the site. I would also caution that the site authors, while attempting humor, are not always well-versed in evolutionary theory, nor are those who submit comments on particular articles. However, it should be commended for drawing our attention to ways in which natural selection in human beings continues, sometimes in surprising ways.

For a couple points extra credit for tomorrow's class, you may visit the site and find one (appropriate) Darwin Award to share. It's nice to start class with a little humor. :) But please, don't WIN any Darwin Awards! This is not an honor anyone wants to attain!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

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.