The Darwin Awards 3: Survival of the Fittest

Darwin Awards #3

by Wendy Northcutt

A third collection of macabre mishaps and humorous misadventures about people who have lost their lives by engaging in questionable activities includes the stories of a sheriff who shot himself twice, highway robbers who blocked traffic with their car, and an artist who made a necklace using live ammunition.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Science, Comedy, Short Stories, Anthologies, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Wendy Northcutt graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in molecular biology. She began collecting the stories that make up the Darwin Awards in 1993 and founded www.DarwinAwards.com shortly after.

Northcutt is the author of the international bestsellers The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action, The Darwin Awards 2: Unnatural Selection, The Darwin Awards 3: Survival of the Fittest, and The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design. Her newest addition to the series is The Darwin Awards: Next Evolution."

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of tales of people who died dumb. It's amazing how many stupid ways there are to die.

[Vikas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darwin Awards 3 is the third compilation of articles published over at the website www.darwinawards.com and it contains stories about the people who lost their lives with their ignorance and foolishness. As such saving world from their genes.

Some stories are amusing some are not so much and mostly I liked this book which I picked totally at random from the book fair.

I haven't checked the website yet but would definitely check it as soon as I stop typing this. If you like to read funny bit about other's misfortune like almost everyone then yeah read it by all means you will have fun as did I.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the very first Darwin awards book I got, I got it from a friend for my Titanic themed birthday party which was in my Grade 9 year.

I remember not getting the point of these at first, but now fully appreciate and understand what the Darwin Awards are all about, and I am grateful for that part of the world to be now a part of my intellect.

Whenever I am accused of not using my common sense, I can think of these books and feel much better that I am not as lost as these causes. Although there have been many a time where I myself have been in possible running to win a Darwin Award, but more likely, an honorable mention.

These stories are humorous and gross, but they get that point across that some of us were born to die.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You would think that we humans have common sense. Many don't think before they act so they often end up injuring themselves and or death. Some of these stories don't seem true, but they are very entertaining and fun to read. Many people have read/wrote stories about themselves and have become angry to reading them. So then they go against the Darwin awards. So funny, they don't want people to read their humiliation. But, I'm sure i would feel the same way. I like that there were multiple stories and different situations, wrote through first person and third person. I dislike that people get offended. I would enjoy to read something similar to this. I do recommend you read this to have a good laugh, or just learn lessons from it. Common sense people!

[Oldfirefox_win7 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found that this was just more of the same stuff. Nothing surprisingly interesting or new, just more of the same. And because of that, I find it so much more boring. Although I did read the fourth before this one. The only reason I’m not giving it 1 star is that it still has those science articles. They provide knowledge.

[RYCJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

...Ok, so while all the stories weren't exactly funny, the writing was delicious. Humorously delicious, albeit. Sure...a greater respect for nature (and human nature) inclusive of all its faults... both cerebral and transcendent should be respected, something I greatly respected about the writing.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be honest, I found this book tedious. Two weeks ago, I heard the story of the guys in Canberra stealing copper piping from an old hotel. The fireman, who had been there, was a much better story teller.
Admittedly, part of the problem here, is there is too much that is too similar. I would have enjoyed it far more if someone else was reading it and just read out the occasional story.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Darwin Awards: Survival of the Fittest is meant to be a collection of stories of people who have won the aforementioned awards given to their lack of sense.

Instead the book is full of paper padding of additional information such as descriptive paragraphs in the Table of Contents that are then repeated in the sections while most sections also have some type of essays whether it be about the book's formatting, the requirements or something related to the theme. Furthermore there are basic illustrations for a select few, comics, comments and other extra tidbits as well as various hyperlinks offered for readers to find more information related to the story.

The very last section actually provides readers with additional Darwin Awards stories before giving the reader the reason why it is no longer eligible.

So out of 123 entries, the breakdown is:
Awards: 54
Mentions: 25
Accounts: 32
Disqualified: 12

And that means the book isn't even really dedicated to Darwin Awards stories. All in all curious readers will be much better off looking up these stories for themselves if they are even interested in them.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th or 5th collection of Darwin Awards stories I've read, and they're always good for a few laughs at the stupidity of our fellow humans. Northcutt divided this book by gender, with men and women each getting a chapter of their own, plus chapters featuring people of both genders whose act of stupidity involved certain common factors like fire or machinery.
As in other books, Northcutt includes Winners, Honorable Mentions, and unverified personal stories. Winners are those who succeeded in eliminating themselves from the gene pool (usually by death), thus preventing the spread of their 'poor judgement' genes. Honorable Mentions engaged in acts as foolish as the Winners, but through a stroke of luck lived to tell the tale. Because the Darwin Awards are governed by a strict process to ensure the stories are true, many entries seem legitimate but there is no way to prove they happened, so Northcutt classifies the best as unverified personal accounts. She also includes a chapter of stories that previously classified as one of the first 2 categories, but after further review were determined not to meet certain criteria.
Most of the stories were new to me, though there was one included from our local paper. A fellow was working with power tools in the basement of a home he was repairing when he sawed off his hand. For whatever reason, the guy felt his only option at that point was to use his nail gun to shoot nails into his skull. The nails were short enough not to cause any severe damage to his brain, and the homeowner was kind enough to find the guy's hand and take it to the hospital so the doctors could reattach it and pull the nails out of his head. Clearly an Honorable Mention, and I can't say I heard anything further on the story, nor do I remember the guy's name.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always feel guilty reading the Darwin Awards, and laughing at the unfortunate demises of a number of innocent people. That said, the books are really funny and they always kind of make me feel a little better about myself. I know that if I'm stealing scrap metal (not that I would) it's best not to try and cut down the beams supporting the ceiling of the room I am in, for example. The Darwin Awards books are always good for a laugh and you find yourself shaking your head at how stupid the "winners' are.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest (Darwin Awards #3)
by Wendy Northcutt (Plume 2004) (304.64). Darwin Awards are given to those who render the greatest service to mankind by "naturally selecting" themselves out of the gene pool through some monumental ineptness or miscalculation (i.e., the guy who shoots himself fatally by hitting a bullet with a hammer to see what would happen"). This is the third collection of stories of jaw-droppingly stupid behavior by people who are now dead as a result. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2005.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morally questionable and in poor taste? Most likely. Hilarious? Most certainly! This is a hard copy collection of stories submitted to the Darwin Awards ([http://http://www.darwinawards.com/]), unofficial awards for people who remove themselves from life in the stupidest of fashions.

This is a quick, light-hearted read. Great to pick up and get a laugh from. If you're looking for essays on the human condition, look elsewhere. This is all fluff.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining stories. I particularly enjoyed the ones with explosions causing people's demises due to things like banging on live explosives with a hammer.
Putting in the disqualified Darwins was also very good to read. I liked understanding why they were disqualified, and the explanations were very good so the reader could understand the full circumstances that got the story disqualified.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this book makes me feel a lot smarter than the last couple books I read. Although I don't agree with the basic assumptions this book makes about science, but it is a highly entertaining book to read. Gotta say that people can be both very smart and incredibly stupid! Thanks to Mrs Northcutt for this fun read!

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing in parts, if you’ve read the others in the series this is pretty much more of the same, only it has the taste of cold leftovers. Lots of padding in the form of quotes and “background” info stretch it out a bit.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another mostly meh and occasionally funny collection of real stories about idiots who managed to remove themselves from the gene pool in the most stupid ways. Great read if you want to apologize to other species in behalf of the Homo sapiens. Not as hooking as the other collections.

[Dick Pilskog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little snippets of what people do when they do not use their head. I skipped the explanations and just tried humor a couple times. Silly explanations when people get in a hurry or face a disaster.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining in spurts but not as much so as I had hoped. May give another one a try. Good for listening on the commute, no long attention span needed!

[Sean Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cautionary tale about ways people have removed themselves from the human gene pool. Enjoyable read and really makes me feel smart!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not funny. People dying just isn't funny for me.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read if you are fascinated by the morbid

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly stupid actions get their own awards. Great black humor. Not for everyone.

[Nathaniel R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not exactly my cup of tea at the moment. But it delivers on what it sets out to do, and actually makes some corrections on previous potential Darwin Awards, Honourable Mentions and Personal Accounts.

[Iris Kerns]

...if you're in the mood to lose your faith in humanity, welcome!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Volume III in this series. I particularly enjoyed reading The Darwin Awards because in my work as an engineer I had worked with attorneys on product liability lawsuits, also a Darwin Award rich environment because of the stupidity of some drivers who often did what the Owners Manual warns not to do! I suggest if you are in need of cheap entertainment, look at the warnings and cautions contained within your car’s owners manual (no matter how obvious you think they are) and add the phrase "because someone was stupid enough to do this" and you will know why that warning is in their. That is true for warnings and cautions in practically any and all consumer products. This book series consolidates many of these examples into a humorous look at how the gene pool attempts to evolve. The stories add a light hearted break for me from some of the heavier topics I tend to focus on. If you need a laughter break, this book, and others in the series, may be just what you need!

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can recall having laughed my ass off when I heard about some of these individually. Now, seeing a book treatment of the subject, and seeing this one claim to be number three, implying that there are a number one and a number two, I am far less enamored of the subject. It is like an ongoing "America's Funniest Home Videos," but these are supposed to all have been fatal. I wonder if it is not just a first step down the path of "bread and circuses" heralding our civilization's imminent demise.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel bad that I enjoyed reading this book, because someone had to pay for the stupid mistake, but still, I laughed. Then a couple of times I realized I probably came pretty close to getting on this list myself! I am just glad I made it to the age of 62. I don't really think I'll make the list, but somehow I keep making stupid mistakes and just luck through them. I'd much rather read about the mistakes.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 2 out of 5]

In reading this book I have profound mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I have made my own personal opposition to the mistaken underpinnings of this particular award rather plainly and openly [1], and so I do not share the author's belief that it is a good thing that the people commemorated in this work have improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it, nor do I believe in survival of the fittest--often the fittest fail to survive for some reason or another, unless fitness is a tautological concept describing those who survive regardless of the specific nature of the reasons for their good fortune.  In addition, I tend to find much of the sense of humor of this book a bit mean-spirited, as the author assumes that she and most of the audience are far more clever and less short-sighted than the sort of people who are likely to find themselves in these pages.  I must admit that my own encounter with a ceiling fan have demonstrated that I am certainly absent-minded enough for at least an honorable mention in the books, and to be sure that colors my view of the condescending view towards the people in this book.  That said, if you like mocking humor, this book has a lot of it.

The contents of this moderately sized (roughly 230 page) book are divided into six chapters.  Each chapter, as well as the book as a whole, include a great deal of introductory material that discusses some matter of the rules of the award or some sort of speculation on natural selection and survival of the fittest.  The various nominees are divided into three categories:  Darwin Awards for those stories concerning people who have removed themselves from the gene pool, transcended common stupidity, done the harm to themselves (but not with the intent to kill themselves), been mature and of sound mind (although possibly impaired from drug or alcohol use), whose stories can be confirmed or at least are generally plausible.  The second category involves honorable mentions for those who failed to remove themselves from the gene pool despite their best efforts, and the third category involves people giving unconfirmed personal accounts of themselves or others.  The first chapter involves law enforcement with criminals, policemen, lawyers (including noted Copperhead Clement Vallandigham) and judges.  The second chapter contains stories of would-be alpha males whose raging testosterone and absence of rational thought demonstrated they were instead omega males.  The third chapter examines the many ways explosions can go wrong, many of them involving grenades or undetonated ordinance or gasoline cans or something equally obviously dangerous.  The fourth chapter contains women who removed themselves from propagation due to their own folly, while the fifth chapter looks at the problems with mankind and technology and the sixth and final chapter looks at stories which were originally nominated but were disqualified for one reason or another.

In fact, I found the sixth and final chapter to be the most interesting of the lot, largely because it demonstrated what humanity was to be found in the book.  While most of the book featured a great deal of smug and self-satisfied humor at the expense of other people, a particularly low form of wit and humor, the sixth chapter demonstrated that the author is not entirely lacking from the sort of social graces and generosity of spirit that demonstrate one's fitness for life as a civilized human being.  Included in this particular chapter were examples of people who had been given false information and perished as a result of being misinformed and acting in ways that were dangerous where they had little reason to know the full extent of the problems they were involved in.  Cases where innocent bystanders suffered harm are likewise not eligible for Darwin Awards--the author shows a great deal of taste for "instant karma" where someone's folly or wickedness is immediately rewarded by divine providence or the absence of protection, but does not have any enjoyment in the destruction of the innocent or deceived.  Of course, this concession to humanity does not reach the standard of biblical justice, for God does not rejoice in the destruction of the wicked, and the author of this book and most of this book's intended audience rejoice in precisely that.  A wiser author would have admitted that spectacular failure of reasoning and maturity are possible fates for all of us, and that we are one bad day or even a few bad seconds away from epic and catastrophic failure.  If we avoid self-destruction in our lives, it is usually the result of divine favor more than anything we happen to deserve.  We would do well to remember this before we laugh at others who were not so blessed in their lives or deaths.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

[Jargon Jester · Rating 2 out of 5]

The actual Darwin stories are amusing, but the book spends a fair bit of time in the introduction and chapter beginnings with unnecessary fluff (in my opinion anyway). The disqualified Darwin Awards felt unnecessary as well. I didn’t need the expositions on those stories. Did you not have enough good material? It seems a bit forced and stretched.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Occasionally amusing, but mainly just meh. I felt like way too much time was spent explaining the Darwin Awards and how the "winners" are picked. It's a pretty short book so if you're looking for a fast read that doesn't require much brainpower, this would be perfect for you.