Recurring pedantic pet-peeve: The Darwin Awards are premised on a foolish misunderstanding of Darwinian theory. Darwin says It doesn't matter if you survive if you don't reproduce *and* it doesn't matter if you die as long as you reproduce. That's the measure of fitness.

High risk behavior normatively coded as "stupid" can, indeed, increase reproductive possibilities, i.e. the shit that can get you killed can also get you laid. Please see, Social Structures, American High Schools.

So the drunk dude who dies trying to do a "stupid" water ski trick but has a bunch of kids is wayyyyyyy more evolutionarily fit (from a Darwinian perspective) than me, who will almost certainly never have children but tends to be socially validated as "smart."

This isn't a vindication of the dude on the water ski. It's a good reminder that Darwinian evolutionary fitness is not a good basis for normative judgment.

Sure, tell people not to be careless and reckless. But you don't need Darwin to do that! It has nothing to do with evolution. Worse yet, it tends to reinforce the worst bits of popular eugenic logics in American culture.

In any case, it also rankles because I find it pretentious to cite Darwinian theory to mock dead "stupid" people (and to mark yourself as "smart) when it's such a flawed understanding of the theory at work. Ok. I got it out of my system. Thanks for letting me kvetch.

I have to say I get a little embarrassed for them any time I see another academic make reference to the Darwin awards with anything but contempt. I am subtweeting a big famous person right now, yes I am.