# Am I the only one who has a problem with Darwin Awards? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458 "2003-03-27T04:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/1 "2003-03-27T04:17:07Z")
And the whole god damned pecking party of a world we live in where we applaud the deaths of others because they were “stupid”. Fuck this stupid world! Between this crap and the “you’re lucky I don’t kill you” [tolerance](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=169186) a bunch of people expouse, the “personal responsibility sadists” who reap satisfaction from the pain people suffer after making mistakes, it seems like nobody respects human life at all. Everybody hates everybody, so what the fuck’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/2 "2003-03-27T04:21:07Z")
My advice: Prozac. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/3 "2003-03-27T04:31:41Z")
You know, sometimes the way to deal with death and tragedy is humor. Life sucks. Death sucks. Humor, well, doesn’t. _shrugs_ Sometimes, ya gotta laugh. I mean, c’mon, some moron DECAPITATED HIMSELF WITH A FRIGGIN CHAIN SAW!!! ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/4 "2003-03-27T04:37:19Z")
My problem is they don’t check to see if the people reproduced. If they already contributed to the gene pool, how can it be a “Darwin Award?” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/5 "2003-03-27T04:39:41Z")
Oh come on, they serve as a reminder that there is _some_ justice in this world. Spend a day working with idiots, I mean real fucking idiots, the kind of people who are absolutely proud to be morons and somehow manage to fuck up the unfuckable. Just one day with them, and get back to us. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/6 "2003-03-27T04:45:15Z")
Ya know - a lot of the stories are made up. You know - _jokes_. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/7 "2003-03-27T04:46:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by porcupine \* > \*\*My problem is they don’t check to see if the people reproduced. If they already contributed to the gene pool, how can it be a “Darwin Award?” \*\* They might have continued to procreate if not selected out. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/8 "2003-03-27T04:47:01Z")
Well, if people didn’t do really stupid things, then what would we laugh about? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/9 "2003-03-27T04:48:06Z")
I was just going to say that, **alice\_in\_wonderland**. I mean, come on: there’s a bunch of stories about people who said and did things - with no witnesses - just before they were allegedly killed. Many, if not most of the Darwin Awards, HAVE to be made up. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/10 "2003-03-27T04:49:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > Spend a day working with idiots, I mean real fucking idiots, the kind of people who are absolutely proud to be morons and somehow manage to fuck up the unfuckable. Just one day with them, and get back to us. We must have the same boss. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/11 "2003-03-27T04:51:50Z")
\ It’s funny when people I don’t know hurt or kill themselves in amusing ways, because I don’t know the person, and therefore don’t feel any personal loss at his or her death, and the manner of their dying is ironic or nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/12 "2003-03-27T05:04:30Z")
Argh! Did I say anything about laughing in my OP? I said “applauding”. APPLAUDING. See: > [@](#): > > And the whole god damned pecking party of a world we live in where we applaud the deaths of others because they were “stupid”. …no, wait, I said “applaud”. Well, still same thing. I have a problem with the applauding, which comes in the form of this: Darwin Award’s homepage: > [@](#): > > The Darwin Awards honor those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. We commemorate the actions of men and women who gave their all, in an effort to improve the human species. Of necessity, the honor is usually bestowed posthumously. See? Sick. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/13 "2003-03-27T05:06:58Z")
Actually, I think they try and verify some of them. The one I mentioned did happen. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/14 "2003-03-27T05:11:40Z")
yeah, but I think that’s tounge in cheek. It’s not really an attempt to honor those people who realize they’re too stupid to live. It’s a way to laugh at funny deaths. What you just quoted is a way to give it an air of mock-seriousness. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/15 "2003-03-27T05:18:47Z")
Plus we’re not talking about little kids getting mowed down by drunk drivers, or soldiers sent off to war. We’re talking about people doing _unbelievably_ stupid things and paying the price for it. What’s being applauded is more the _manner_ of the death than the death itself. And yeah, most of those stories are funny. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/16 "2003-03-27T05:21:35Z")
You see, life is like an account here at the SDMB. If you’re a jerk or a fucktard, people are happy when you lose it. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/17 "2003-03-27T05:37:51Z")
i have a problem with the Darwin Awards! My Father welded a rocket engine to his car (this was after someone stole his kidney), and became a stain on a cliff side, so of course he gets listed, but he already had me, so it wasn’t really Darwinian! And on his melted car door, WAS A HOOK!!! ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/18 "2003-03-27T06:24:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\*Ya know - a lot of the stories are made up. You know - _jokes_. \*\* Hate to tell you this Alice but those stories are not made up,I know, I submited one myself last year. Read in the local newspaper about someone here in Houston Tx who killed himself in a stupid way (guy parked on railroad tracks to scare girlrfriend who he was fighting with,train came,she jumped out of car, he tried and failed to start car in time to move it,train converts car to scrap metal and guy to Darwin Award candidate). Posted story and link to newspaper article on the Darwin Awards website. Peace LIONsob ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/19 "2003-03-27T06:24:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*i have a problem with the Darwin Awards! My Father welded a rocket engine to his car (this was after someone stole his kidney), and became a stain on a cliff side, so of course he gets listed, but he already had me, so it wasn’t really Darwinian! And on his melted car door, WAS A HOOK!!! \*\* So, Dad worked for the ACME corporation, did he? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458/20 "2003-03-27T06:28:43Z")
**LIONsob** , dude, my friend. Just because _SOME_ of the stories are real, doesn’t mean they _ALL_ are. At least 75% of the stories on the page say “Unverified by Darwin”, meaning they’re faux. There is a real story on there from these parts too - a guy sent himself down a comercial garbage chute into the incinerator for fun, according to his buddys. Can I believe this? Sure. Can I belive that somehow some guy managed to sever his own arms, legs and head with a chain-saw? No, sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-has-a-problem-with-darwin-awards/164458.md?page=2)