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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another book in the Darwin Awards series..., October 26, 2006
The Darwin Awards strikes again! Volume 4 features the latest folk who have removed themselves from the human gene pool (Darwin Award winner) or attempted to (Honorable Mention). Death isn't required as an endpoint for a Darwin Award, but reproductive fitness must be reduced to zero. As an example of an Honorable Mention, I submit the case (p. 135) of an unidentified 50 year old entering the emergency room of a hospital in Hong Kong, complaining of abdominal pain. After an x-ray, doctors spotted what appeared to be an eel in his colon! Yes, the man admitted. He had been suffering from constipation, and decided that inserting an eel would be just the ticket to solve this problem. He recovered, so he remains in the gene pool (for those who will have him, and his traits). And who gets a Darwin Award? Consider the case of the sleep-deprived Romanian (p. 129). He couldn't sleep because of a pesky and noisy rooster. He dreamed of wringing its neck, or, even better, decapitation. One evening he had had enough. He got out of bed, grabbed the rooster, and chopped off its head. Unfortunately, the sleep-deprived man noticed soon after that he had accidentally chopped off his penis instead, and while reflecting on this, his dog came over and ate the discarded member. He did get to the hospital and recover, but he was effectively removed from the gene pool. See? Death need not be the endpoint. However, I guarantee you that the majority of Darwin Award recipients are no longer of this Earth. And, as compiler Wendy Northcutt would argue, that is just fine for the human gene pool.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Darwin Awards 4 -- Stupid People 0, December 14, 2006
Wendy Northcutt & Co. have brought us yet another great set of anecdotes about how NOT to "maximize your reproductive fitness". As has been noted before: it's fun to watch, from a position of safety of course, the antics of the truly foolish and stupid. (Consider the long-standing popularity of clown acts, for example.) We get to laugh in a self-reassuring way, thinking "There but for the grace of...well, Darwin, go I." We know, or at least we believe, that OUR brains won't be victims of what some wit has labeled "testosterone poisoning", which too often leads to such famous last words as "Hey, y'all, watch this!" (Alcohol poisoning seems to exacerbate the testosterone poisoning, as in the case of the two drunken young men who made a bet to see who could dangle the longer from a freeway overpass one night. They both lost the bet, dying when they fell into traffic after they could no longer hold on.) So get ready to shake your head in amazement, and have many a chuckle along the way, as you read the latest round-up of human idiocy. You'll learn some other fascinating things too, in the science essays that introduce the chapters. Enjoy!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another look at the stupidity of the human race..., November 26, 2007
... or at least some members of it. Some of the stories of stupid human tricks really do boggle the mind. Putting lit fireworks in your pants? Bungee-jumping onto a ship? Stealing extremely toxic snakes and putting them in plastic bags? What were they thinking? Well, they weren't. There may be limits to human intelligence but there are NO limits on human stupidity. If you need a laugh or have a need to feel superior, this is the book for you! The illustrations and the commentary which go with some of the stories are first-rate as well.
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