History Main / TooDumbToLive

* Defied in ''Advertising/ClaudeTheCat''. Claude's owner often makes foolish mistakes that ''nearly'' kill him, but Claude saves him.

* A family in a flood is being rescued from a window on the second floor of their house when one of the crew notices a hat somehow floating upstream. As he watches, the hat turns and floats downstream, then begins floating upstream again.\\\

* Ivan in "Literature/TsarevitchIvanTheFireBirdAndTheGrayWolf." He double-subverts YoungestChildWins in that, while in many other fairy tales the older siblings are the ones to disregard the instructions and the youngest wins by doing what they're supposed to, Ivan is the one who repeatedly touches things he's been specifically told not to while trying to steal the Firebird etc., trips magical burglar alarms, and gets sent on one FetchQuest after another as a consequence (and he keeps getting told that he wouldn't have had to resort to burglary if he'd just ''asked''). De-subverted because the wolf keeps bailing him out, even after he actually ''dies''.

* TooDumbToLive/ProWrestling

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. Accepting food and drink from the somewhat weird stranger who lives in the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and keeps asking odd questions in a CreepyMonotone, such as if they came to the house alone and if anybody knows where they are (and, of course, answering "yes" and "no" to these questions). BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster, or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[AccidentalSuicide Plugging in electric appliances right next to their full bath]]. [[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

See also ChaoticStupid

See also [[ChaoticStupid]]

Compare ArtificialStupidity, the video game equivalent of this which is a result of AI rather than the script being against them. Contrast DeathByPragmatism and LetsGetDangerous. Not to be confused with EvilutionaryBiologist or TheSocialDarwinist, although [[ValuesDissonance they generally consider it a]] MoralEventHorizon [[ValuesDissonance to not kill the dumb]]. Also not to be confused with DrivenToSuicide, which is the intentional, [[DespairEventHorizon despair]]-induced taking of one's life. See also SuicidalOverconfidence, another video game version. LethallyStupid is when someone's stupidity simply causes havoc, instead of being the cause of their demise.

Compare ArtificialStupidity, the video game equivalent of this which is a result of AI rather than the script being against them. Contrast DeathByPragmatism and LetsGetDangerous. Not to be confused with EvilutionaryBiologist or TheSocialDarwinist, although [[ValuesDissonance they generally consider it a]] MoralEventHorizon [[ValuesDissonance to not kill the dumb]]. See also SuicidalOverconfidence, another video game version. LethallyStupid is when someone's stupidity simply causes havoc, instead of being the cause of their demise.

[[caption-width-right:350:Uh...what's death?]]

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Alternative title: Darwin Award Winner

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[[caption-width-right:350:Uh... can I TakeAThirdOption?]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ScaryMovie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/death-savety_8844.png]]]]

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There's simple ignorance, when you just didn't know something. There's catching the IdiotBall, which is a momentary lapse. There's fear and panic in a chaotic situation. All those situations are understandable reasons for making poor decisions. So far, we're at WhatAnIdiot

* [[https://youtu.be/w68bNY1mGus This Toshiba commercial]] involves a mass power outage that lasts for a few days. When one young man examines some '''''obviously''''' expired milk in his fridge, he drinks it anyway. Which starts a zombie apocalypse.

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* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' has [[spoiler: Boyland, who dies when he takes his helmet off and opens the window in an incredibly dangerous lab being encased in viral crystal, all for a smoke break.]]

* ''Radio/TheBobAndTomShow'': The caller in the Mr. Obvious sketches. In one the caller thinks there is a "critter" in the pipes under his sink and when his wife turns on a light switch it makes it madder than anything. He even tried to get it out once. The sketch lives on this trope. Many either end with bodily injury or came close to it. Others include: Driving a boat down a ski slope (confusing water skiing and snow skiing), Driving with the car sun shade up (not making the connection of needing to remove it), and more.

* ''Roleplay/MurderU'': In the second game, after Kai has recovered from being poisoned and Kellensea has admitted to doing it (counting on there being no punishment since Kai survived), Ranma takes out a rag collected during the investigation, covered in what is probably the same poison, and ''licks it''. To nobody's surprise but his own, he collapses swiftly, and only survives because he gets immediate medical attention.

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. Accepting food and drink from the somewhat weird stranger who lives in the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and keeps asking odd questions in a CreepyMonotone, such as if they came to the house alone and if anybody knows where they are (and, of course, answering "yes" and "no" to these questions). BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster, or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[AccidentalSuicide Plugging in electric appliances right next to their full bath]].[[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. Accepting food and drink from the somewhat weird stranger who lives in the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and keeps asking odd questions in a CreepyMonotone, such as if they came to the house alone and if anybody knows where they are (and, of course, answering "yes" and "no" to these questions). BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster, or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. Accepting food and drink from the somewhat weird stranger who lives in the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and keeps asking odd questions in a CreepyMonotone, such as if they came to the house alone and if anybody knows were they are (and, of course, answering "yes" to these questions). BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. Accepting food and drink from the somewhat weird stranger who lives in the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and keeps asking odd questions in a CreepyMonotone, such as if they came to the house alone and if anybody knows were they are. BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

Walking down the alley alone to tell his friend about the SerialKiller in town. Telling everybody in earshot he has [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse vital evidence that he'll be taking to the authorities very shortly]]. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Hovering in a known dangerous area]] [[NeverSplitTheParty without backup]]. [[PoorCommunicationKills Not telling the rest of the heroes about the upcoming trap laid out for them]]. BullyingADragon, MuggingTheMonster or whatever. [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo Touching buttons]] [[DontTouchItYouIdiot when told not to]]. JugglingLoadedGuns. [[PerilousOldFool Refusing to believe his glory days are behind him]]. [[BlackmailBackfire Blackmailing someone about murder]]. Not only possessing GenreBlindness, but putting [[Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox's]] [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses on over it]]. Even close friends have to {{facepalm}} upon hearing of his or her exploits. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough These people, that's who!

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[[folder:Real Life]]

* There was an incident in 2019 in which a St Paul man made a video of himself asking both of his 6-year old daughters if they were consenting to sexual acts with him. He manipulated them into saying they were in order to "prove" it was "consensual" this video was on the internet and many people reported it to the FBI which got him arrested.]]
[/folder]]

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* [[BlondeBrunetteRedhead A brunette, a redhead and a blonde]] are chased by a SerialKiller. They find a barn and hide in potato sacks. The killer comes and shakes the first bag. The brunette goes ''"[[ConvenientDecoyCat Meow! Meow!]]"'' "Just a dumb cat" says the killer while shaking the second bag. The redhead goes ''"Woof! Woof!"'' "Just a dumb dog" he says, and then shakes the third bag. And the DumbBlonde goes ''"Potato! Potato!"''

For RealLife examples, see the ''Website/DarwinAwards'' and ''WebVideo/WhatTheFuckIsWrongWithYou''.

* TooDumbToLive/WebComics