However, highly intelligent people do also engage in impressively senseless behavior sometimes. I'm glad that Ms. Northcutt included the example of herself nearly falling into the heating/ cooling air shaft in her apartment, after she forgot that she removed the protective grate cover in one of these books.

Another example that came to mind as I've been reading these books is actually from Robert M. Pirsig's classic text "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values" (William Morrow & Company, 1974, and numerous more recent reprints)- The author, Robert M. Pirsig has been tested as possessing one of the highest IQ's EVER recorded anywhere in the entire world. And guess what?

There's one scene in "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance," in which he recounts an experience from back sometime during the 1960’s, where he’d been meditating for an entire day near one of the mountains in the Grand Teton Range in Montana, near to either Glacier National Park or Grand Teton National Park, and what he had thought at the time was a sheep dog came right up to him, sniffed him for a couple of minutes and then trotted away. Shortly thereafter, he realized that was not a sheep dog, it was a wild wolf, either a grey wolf or a timber wolf. Wild wolves actually look nothing at all like the domesticated dogs that are used by sheep farmers to guard their herds, Mr. Pirsig had become so deeply entranced in his train of thought that he’d lost his ability to concentrate on what was going on right around him.

Assuming that this story is true, Robert M. Pirsig was very lucky here, this was a situation which could have ended VERY DIFFERENTLY. If that wolf had been hungry, or if had been traveling in a pack, the wolf or wolves would have dined on “philosopher tartare” for lunch.

There are other examples in “Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance,” in which Robert M. Prisig engages in astoundingly senseless behaviors, he drinks beers and then rides on his motorcycle with his 11 year old son on the back, he also rides without wearing a helmet a few times. This story takes place back in 1968, which was before I was born, perhaps vehicle safety laws were different back then, and perhaps peoples’ understanding of safe driving was different back then, but today, in addition to facing drunk driving chargers and a very serious fine for riding without wearing a helmet, he’d also be facing charges of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a minor; today, you’d be looking at 6 to 12 months in jail for trying this. (I know that this would not qualify for a “Darwin Award” because he’s endangering other people in addition to himself here, I just wanted to include this example to illustrate how someone who is considered to be one of the most intelligent people in the entire world engages in impressively senseless activities too.)

I’ve recently begun to read Robert M. Pirsig’s sequel to “Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance,” which is entitled “Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals,” (Bantam Books, 1991), and it appears that our narrator/ protagonist is still considered to be one of the top experts in the entire world in certain aspects of Greek, Asian and Native American philosophies, and he still engages in acts which make the readers wonder how he manages to keep himself in one piece. I don’t want to say anymore about his behaviors that he tells us about in his second book now, because I’ve not yet finished reading the book.

I DO NOT want to nominate Mr. Pirsig for a Darwin Award here because he actually acknowledges to his readers several times that he notices that he is engaging in a number of acts which are, to be blunt, not terribly swift- In these two books, Robert M. Pirsig invites his readers to tour the mind of someone who is considered to be one of the top experts in the entire world in certain specialized areas of Greek, Asian and Native American philosophies, and who manages to ignore even the slightest bit of common sense, and nearly get himself killed on more than one occasion- Again Ms. Northcutt, this is NOT intended to be a nomination for a Darwin Award, I just want to use this example to point out to DA readers that it’s not only idiots who repeatedly engage in completely idiotic behaviors.

Submitted on 11/08/2013

Submitted by: Scott Benowitz
Reference: (not an official nomination)

Copyright © 2013 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Other
Thanks, Scott, but things like this should really be sent directly to Wendy via the Contact link and not submitted as story submissions.

Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Other
What Bruce said.

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