Awarding Stupidity in Darwin's Name

cfoster — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:55:21 -0600

A man was found stabbed to death in his own home. No signs of struggle. No suicide note. A murder mystery? No, just another unfortunate winner of the annual and very popular Darwin Awards.

From our partners at the California Academy of Sciences:

The ignoble award’s theme is to celebrate people who have killed themselves in “idiotic” ways and will no longer be able to pass their genes down to their children, theoretically stopping stupidity in the human race. Take the stabbed man for example. It turns out that he believed his new jacket was knife-proof and had the glowing light bulb idea to test it on himself.

The Darwin Awards were named after acclaimed scientist Charles Darwin, whose 200th birthday is being celebrated around the world today. His theories of evolution and “survival of the fittest” have become the framework for all fields of biological science. Youth Radio interviewed Wendy Northcutt, the founder of the Darwin Awards, about the award's history, her favorite dead winners, and the social and racial controversy surrounding Darwin and the award.

Youth Radio - Topic: Charles Darwin

Awarding Stupidity in Darwin's Name