Who Started the Darwin Awards?

Researching the Darwin Awards reveals some pretty humorous information.

Wendy Northcutt started the Darwin Awards, and she has stated the purpose of them as "The Awards honor people who ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool." That statement is meant to be humorous, but is it really? The awards were named after Charles Darwin, of course, but they are nowhere near as serious as the actual topics which the real Darwin discussed.

Requirements for the Darwin Award

Wendy Northcutt not only coined the term, but she also decided the requirements that one must meet in order to win the coveted Darwin Award. In order to obtain the award, you must fulfill at least one of the following requirements. Winners generally fulfill more or they fulfill them to at least some degree.

• You must possess the inability to reproduce. Therefore, you either need to have been diagnosed as sterile or you must be dead. There are some exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, some debate has been generated because of non traditional methods of giving birth. The main premise of that rule is that if you were stranded on a desert island with a member of the opposite sex, if you could not get pregnant or impregnate, you are eligible for the Darwin Award.
• The person must also accomplish a foolish feat as well, but the feat must be unique and sometimes humorous as well. An example of such an activity is a man who attempted to commit suicide by swallowing nitroglycerin pills and then tried to detonate them by running into a wall. We are not sure that this is really "humorous" or an "accomplishment," but it is what Northcutt is looking for.
• Another requirement for the Darwin Awards is to have been responsible for one's own death or demise. However, you cannot accidentally kill another person. You must accidentally kill yourself to receive this award.
• The person has to be of the legal driving age and free from mental defects. Northcutt thinks that it is tragic for such a person to die, although she considers other deaths humorous.
• The story must be proven to be true.

Considerations of Who Wins the Darwin Awards

Some people do not realize that these awards should be taken as a joke. In fact, there have actually been winners of this award including:

• Jumping out a plane without a parachute
• Dying of alcohol poisoning from having alcohol injected into the anus of the person's body
• Playing Russian roulette with an unexploded landmine

These awards are apparently so popular that a film entitled The Darwin Awards actually came out.

Before you attempt to look at the "winners" of these awards as humorous or anything of that nature, you should realize that the Darwin Awards glamorize extremely dangerous acts and death. Remember, those people who you are laughing at left behind families, friends, spouses, children and other loved ones. How would you feel if you knew the whole world was laughing at your dearly departed?