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In light of recent thematic mutation(s), I would recommend re-titling this thread New Nominees for Darwin Awards, so as to disconnect it from the actual annual awards.

... Or maybe merge it into Oops! The Silly Mistakes thread.
 
Free climber dangles off 62 storey skyscraper before plunging to his death

The climber, 26, was participating in a challenge to win prize money in November, Chinese media reported.

In the horrifying footage, Mr Yongning can be seen sitting on top of the skyscraper before climbing over the side.

He dangles from the edge, doing pull-ups on the side of the building.

Then, he tries to clamber up the skyscraper with his feet but he loses his balance and lets go, plummeting to the ground.

His uncle told the South China Morning Post: "He planned to propose to his girlfriend [the day after the challenge].

"He needed the money for the wedding, and for medical treatment for his ailing mother."

There's a video.

Here's one of his previous exploits

PAY-AsiaWire-FallingMan-09.jpg
 
Disqualified for a Darwin Award as the couple had already reproduced...

A YouTube prankster from the US state of Minnesota has admitted fatally shooting her boyfriend in a videotaped stunt they hoped would go viral.

Monalisa Perez, 20, told investigators she fired a gun from about a foot away at a book held by Pedro Ruiz III, on 26 June.

She said they expected the bullet to embed harmlessly in the volume. Ruiz, 22, died from a gunshot to the chest.

Perez pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter on Friday.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42429422

(First rule of firearms : Never ever point a firearm, even if you think it's not loaded, at anything you would regret punching a hole through)
 
Disqualified for a Darwin Award as the couple had already reproduced...
Not so. From the website.

The existence of offspring, though potentially deleterious to the gene pool, does not disqualify a nominee. Children inherit only half of each parent's genetic material and thus have their own chance to survive or snuff themselves. If, for instance, the offspring has inherited the "Play With Combustibles" gene, but also has inherited the "Use Caution When..." gene, then she is a potential innovator and asset to the human race. Therefore, each nominee is judged based on whether or not she has removed her own genes, without consideration to the number of offspring or, in the case of an elderly winner, the likelihood of producing more offspring.
 
... A YouTube prankster from the US state of Minnesota has admitted fatally shooting her boyfriend in a videotaped stunt they hoped would go viral.
Monalisa Perez, 20, told investigators she fired a gun from about a foot away at a book held by Pedro Ruiz III, on 26 June.
She said they expected the bullet to embed harmlessly in the volume. Ruiz, 22, died from a gunshot to the chest.
Perez pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter on Friday. ...

Update / Follow-Up: Ms. Perez has now been sentenced ...

Woman who shot boyfriend in Youtube stunt sentenced to 180 days
Monalisa Perez, the Minnesota woman who accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend during a Youtube video stunt gone wrong, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors said.

In addition to jail time -- which will be served in 10-day increments -- the 20-year-old mother of two will serve 10 years of probation, never be allowed to possess a firearm and not be allowed to receive payment for telling the story about the incident that led to the death of her boyfriend, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III in June ...

Norman County Attorney James Brue said the sentence was more lenient than state guidelines for second-degree manslaughter but the circumstances deem it appropriate.

"The reality [is] that this foolish stunt was dreamed up, planned, and executed by Pedro Ruiz, and the defendant wrongfully and tragically relied on his assurances that the stunt was safe," Brue said. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/201.../?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=5
 
metro.co.uk is now my one stop shop for all things schadenfreude.

Am I supposed to feel bad about enjoying watching these adult humans self-destructing with dumb stunts even a 5 year old would be suspicious of? If so, I'm sorry. I don't feel one bit bad about it. If it happened to my next-door neighbour, I'm sure it would a different story, as I know those related to them would be devastated. Proper stress.

My question is, why is it so damn satisfying witnessing these events?
  • Vicarious relief that it isn't me or mine?
  • callous disregard for the context as a result of a long-developed digital dissonance?
  • coz it's funny?


I doubt it is as simple as no.2. I'm imagining Sir James Pottington III sitting down to his mid-morning newspaper with Earl gray and scoan in Whitechapel in 1897, casually turning to his good lady wife and recounting this story about some twonk who dropped 12 stories into a box of offal to test Newton's theory of gravitation attraction, and the pair of them snuffling themselves into a minor hystrionic in ill-restrained mirth.

Transplant himself for Bromley Smythe the blacksmith recounting the story to his mates in the public house after closing of the stable hand who that very day was split in two attempting to accommodate his good lady prossie's whim that he straddle the slingblade for her entertainment and them all pissing themselves.

I don't think this feeling is entirely new. Interesting that there's no word for it in this current version of the English language. Which term even comes close?

What slightly distresses me is that my life is now reduced to regular binges of such dubious satisfaction, particularly people having car accidents or near misses, which cause perhaps 20% of those camera owners not directly involved to laugh out loud at the misadventures of the stupid while the rest just swear their tits off in anger and exasperation . Think I need to get out. Meet people.
 
You don't know the people so the emotional attachment isn't there, and you watch, perhaps, to see if it is possible for a human to be any more stupid than the last one
 
Three suspected graffiti artists have died after being struck by a train in south London station as it was revealed spray cans were found near their bodies.

Loughborough-Junction-people-hit-by-train-710362.jpg


Police are describing the deaths close to Loughborough Junction station as "unexplained". All three - one aged 19, and two aged 23 - were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers are now trying to determine how the three men, all from London came to be on the tracks having been called just before 7.30am on Monday. Police were seen taking photographs of graffiti as part of their enquiries.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nding-tracks-busy-south-london-train-station/

maximus otter
 
Three suspected graffiti artists have died after being struck by a train in south London station as it was revealed spray cans were found near their bodies.



Police are describing the deaths close to Loughborough Junction station as "unexplained". All three - one aged 19, and two aged 23 - were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers are now trying to determine how the three men, all from London came to be on the tracks having been called just before 7.30am on Monday. Police were seen taking photographs of graffiti as part of their enquiries.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nding-tracks-busy-south-london-train-station/

maximus otter

Must be a horrible job, having to pick up human remains from railway lines.
 
Any sort of fellow-feeling is nearly impossible when people are so dense. The Darwin Awards was always a bad-taste joke but, when the candidates keep on coming . . . :evillaugh:

What is wrong with celebrating a notably stupid death? I mean, we attend WW1 memorials...
 
My question is, why is it so damn satisfying witnessing these events?
  • Vicarious relief that it isn't me or mine?
  • callous disregard for the context as a result of a long-developed digital dissonance?
  • coz it's funny?

There was an item just now on R4 about 'rape myths', where juries might be misled by their own unconscious prejudice. One of the problems is that women as well as men may hold these erroneous beliefs which might seem surprising.

As an example, a person might believe the 'stranger' myth, where a woman is attacked out of the blue by a predator. The truth is that most rapes happen between people who already know each other. Believing that myth might make a woman feel safer as she can avoid being attacked by taking precautions like not walking home alone late at night.

Reading about how others' apparent stupidity can lead to their deaths might be a similar process. THEY are stupid and are now dead, but WE are clever and safe.

Had an instance of this yesterday where a fatal accident was being discussed at work. The verdict was well, 's'all very sad innit but they brought it on themselves by doing *****! (No details here, I'm not stupid either!)
 
Three suspected graffiti artists have died after being struck by a train in south London station as it was revealed spray cans were found near their bodies.

Loughborough-Junction-people-hit-by-train-710362.jpg


Police are describing the deaths close to Loughborough Junction station as "unexplained". All three - one aged 19, and two aged 23 - were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers are now trying to determine how the three men, all from London came to be on the tracks having been called just before 7.30am on Monday. Police were seen taking photographs of graffiti as part of their enquiries.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nding-tracks-busy-south-london-train-station/

maximus otter
It may seem harsh but I agree with this guy:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6569083/loughborough-junction-deaths-tfl-board-graffiti-artists-scum/

Graffiti is not a 'victimless crime' everyone who uses the railway is a victim because of the clean-up costs. London Transport had to repaint every single one of their trains as graffiti was virtually impossible to remove from the previous cheap-to-maintain bare aluminium. And don't even get me started on the seat slashers of the 80's which basically caused the train operators to remove all the comfortable seats on commuter lines and replace them with cheaper-to-fix plastic substitutes.

Death or mutilation is an occupational hazard if you are going to trespass on the railways in such a place. Note the live third rail, the walls giving minimum clearance, and the long drop if you jump over the wall.
 
I was offered that job once in Staffordshire next to the A38, the pay was fantastic but I turned it down flat .. way too depressing ..
Do you remember how much?
 
Do you remember how much?
I didn't speak to them directly but I was told it was around £500 per call out (this was in the early to mid 90's). I can't remember if that included expenses or you got those as an extra. You were part of a team (obviously), I was told that more often than not, it would be kids I'd be scraping up so I didn't want to do it.
 
A popular young man fatally stabbed himself in the chest mistakenly believing the vest he wore was stab-proof, his inquest heard.

JS76751260.jpg


Jordan Easton was in the kitchen at one of his friends’ parents on 23 August last year – just five days after his 22nd birthday – when he turned a knife on himself to demonstrate the “stab-proof” nature of the abdominal protection he had on.

He suffered a chest stab wound, and was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.

Teesside assistant coroner Karin Welsh said: ”Despite the best efforts of the medical professionals, they were unable to save him.”

Although his injuries were “self-inflicted”, there was no evidence Mr Easton intended to harm himself.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...t-jordan-easton-teeside-inquest-a8402961.html

Begs the question as to why a "popular young man" felt he needed a stab-resistant (not stab-proof...) vest.

maximus otter
 
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