Here I copy parts of the wikipedia article.
"The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilized via their own actions.
The project became more formalized with the creation of a website in 1993, followed by a series of books starting in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt. The criterion for the awards states: "In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival."
Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies, but the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." The candidate is disqualified, though, if "innocent bystanders" are killed in the process, as they might have contributed positively to the gene pool. The logical problem presented by award winners who may have already reproduced is not addressed in the selection process owing to the difficulty of ascertaining whether or not a person has children; the Darwin Award rules state that the presence of offspring does not disqualify a nominee"
First I will give the defence. They say it is black humor and should not be seen as too serious. Sorry I don't buy that. The society, the media who does not criticize this enough, the individuals who take part in this are responsible for it. I don't say it should be illegal. But this is the societal normalization of mockery. Such a behavior should be stigmatized. Many people say our societies would become too sensitive. I also question things like micro agressions etc. But this is blatant mockery of people who died a horrible death.
It is a hypocrisy to say suicide is a tragedy and must not happen, it must be avoided by any means necessary and then on the other hand making jokes of people who died a "stupid" death.
I have several problems with these awards. Let's say these people were really stupid. Did something stupid and killed themselves accidentally. Is this really funny? If someone has a low IQ this is not the fault of the person. I mean the person often cannot change that. We should not celebrate their death because ist allegedly enhanced the society. What the fuck.
Though I think many of the people who win those awards are not really stupid. It is human to do something stupid. Also very intelligent people do stupid things on a daily basis. These people are portrayed as greedy, ignorant or stupid. But this is not a good reason to make jokes about their cruel deaths. I mean every human is from time to time greedy. Just because the person got killed due to a behavior that might be considered as greedy this does not represent the person. This is just one example. We don't know the story behind the person. We barely know anything. And still these people pretend "yeah they deserved such a death because they were greedy, stupid etc."
This is so fucking arrogant. And in my opinion the people who have such a simplified understanding of reality are also not the brightest. But even more these people are often assholes. (in my opinion)
They don't have any empathy. One could say "yeah the person is dead. We cannot hurt the person anymore." But what is with the loved ones of these people. They have to deal with the fact that the whole world laughs about the cruel death of their brother, child, best friend etc.
The society and people who support such a system are hypocritical. Where are all the thousand newsarticle that call this hatred out?
I had the idea for this thread due to a memory about this award. A Polish man allegedly beheaded himself with a chainsaw for a bet. There are many people who make fun about him on the internet. The Darwin awards claim mentally ill, children or vulnerable groups would not be considered as potential winners. As if you knew anything about this guy. There is probably one superifical newspaper report as a source nothing more. When someone wants assisted suicide you need several assessments of psychiatrists in order to prove you are rational. Some say people who commit suicide cannot be rational.
But making fun about someone who chose such a cruel way to die is okay despite the fact we know almost NOTHING about him. This guy could have had daily severe suicial thoughts. Fantasize every single day to kill himself brutally. But because it sounds like story that sells well we ignore such possibilties. Honestly I doubt a person beheads himself only because he was drunk and it was a bet. I doubt this very much. Maybe I could be wrong in this case. But there are so many similar examples of these "award-winners". It is not unlikely that they make fun of people who gone through hell during their lifetime. But because it sounds funny or sells well it is presented an easy laugh. Moreover the people who organize these awards present themselves as morally superior. They are despicable.
"The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilized via their own actions.
The project became more formalized with the creation of a website in 1993, followed by a series of books starting in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt. The criterion for the awards states: "In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival."
Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies, but the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." The candidate is disqualified, though, if "innocent bystanders" are killed in the process, as they might have contributed positively to the gene pool. The logical problem presented by award winners who may have already reproduced is not addressed in the selection process owing to the difficulty of ascertaining whether or not a person has children; the Darwin Award rules state that the presence of offspring does not disqualify a nominee"
First I will give the defence. They say it is black humor and should not be seen as too serious. Sorry I don't buy that. The society, the media who does not criticize this enough, the individuals who take part in this are responsible for it. I don't say it should be illegal. But this is the societal normalization of mockery. Such a behavior should be stigmatized. Many people say our societies would become too sensitive. I also question things like micro agressions etc. But this is blatant mockery of people who died a horrible death.
It is a hypocrisy to say suicide is a tragedy and must not happen, it must be avoided by any means necessary and then on the other hand making jokes of people who died a "stupid" death.
I have several problems with these awards. Let's say these people were really stupid. Did something stupid and killed themselves accidentally. Is this really funny? If someone has a low IQ this is not the fault of the person. I mean the person often cannot change that. We should not celebrate their death because ist allegedly enhanced the society. What the fuck.
Though I think many of the people who win those awards are not really stupid. It is human to do something stupid. Also very intelligent people do stupid things on a daily basis. These people are portrayed as greedy, ignorant or stupid. But this is not a good reason to make jokes about their cruel deaths. I mean every human is from time to time greedy. Just because the person got killed due to a behavior that might be considered as greedy this does not represent the person. This is just one example. We don't know the story behind the person. We barely know anything. And still these people pretend "yeah they deserved such a death because they were greedy, stupid etc."
This is so fucking arrogant. And in my opinion the people who have such a simplified understanding of reality are also not the brightest. But even more these people are often assholes. (in my opinion)
They don't have any empathy. One could say "yeah the person is dead. We cannot hurt the person anymore." But what is with the loved ones of these people. They have to deal with the fact that the whole world laughs about the cruel death of their brother, child, best friend etc.
The society and people who support such a system are hypocritical. Where are all the thousand newsarticle that call this hatred out?
I had the idea for this thread due to a memory about this award. A Polish man allegedly beheaded himself with a chainsaw for a bet. There are many people who make fun about him on the internet. The Darwin awards claim mentally ill, children or vulnerable groups would not be considered as potential winners. As if you knew anything about this guy. There is probably one superifical newspaper report as a source nothing more. When someone wants assisted suicide you need several assessments of psychiatrists in order to prove you are rational. Some say people who commit suicide cannot be rational.
But making fun about someone who chose such a cruel way to die is okay despite the fact we know almost NOTHING about him. This guy could have had daily severe suicial thoughts. Fantasize every single day to kill himself brutally. But because it sounds like story that sells well we ignore such possibilties. Honestly I doubt a person beheads himself only because he was drunk and it was a bet. I doubt this very much. Maybe I could be wrong in this case. But there are so many similar examples of these "award-winners". It is not unlikely that they make fun of people who gone through hell during their lifetime. But because it sounds funny or sells well it is presented an easy laugh. Moreover the people who organize these awards present themselves as morally superior. They are despicable.
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