I was on the phone a few months ago, setting up an interview for an upcoming issue of the newspaper. After conversing for five minutes or so and establishing a meeting place, I asked the person I was speaking to if they had a number they could reach me at in case there were problems. I simultaneously realised that this conversation was initiated when this person phoned ME.

Definitely not one of my finer moments.

But, whether we like to admit it or not, things like this happen to the best of us. At least that's what I like to tell myself. No matter how alert, attentive or prepared you are, stupidity is always lying in wait around the corner, and it'll catch you sooner or later.

With the spread of the internet, so too spreads stupidity. One of the classic chronicles of the intellectually impaired can be found at www.darwinawards.com. The fine folks running this site bestow these acrimonious awards to "those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it in really stupid ways". Available for your amusement is a somewhat morbid collection of newspaper stories and personal anecdotes relating to people whose greatest contribution to the planet was to leave it, or accidentally do something so horrible to themselves that they were rendered unable to reproduce. Users are able to vote for the poor souls they feel most deserve a Darwin Award.

To give you an idea of the level of stupidity we're talking about here, one of the most popular recipients was killed in Croatia "while trying to open a hand grenade with a chainsaw. He wanted to retrieve the explosive to make firecrackers for the New Year's holiday".

It didn't work.

My sentimental favourite, however, would have to be: "Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet, didn't put enough postage on a letter bomb, and it came back marked 'return to sender.' He opened the package and was blown away."

But if the type of stupidity you're familiar with doesn't involve death or major reconstructive surgery, you might enjoy www.sebourn.com/stupid/stpers.htm. To help you more easily find the types of stupidity out there, the site is divided into sections such as Stupid People, Funny Signs, Product Warnings and Miscellaneous, and the content for each is largely sent in by the online community. The Stupid People link contains accounts of just how low we can go. See for yourself:

"I had just gotten my debit-card," reads one of the submissions. "I hadn't had a chance to sign it yet and I went into the store. The girl, seeing that it wasn't signed, gave me her pen and asked if I would sign the card. I did. So she proceeds with the purchase, hands me the receipt to sign and then takes the card holds it up next to the receipt and compares the signatures..."

And then of course there are the product warnings - stupidity at it's finest. Everything from strollers that instruct you to remove your child before folding it up, to the container of lighter fluid with a Warning: Flammable label. To think, if only the grenade used to earn a Darwin Award could have been labelled "explosive" things might have turned out differently.

If you're looking for possibly the most common form of stupidity encountered by people on daily basis, have a look at www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,38604,00.html for the 101 dumbest moments in business. Read all about the Burger King employees who walked across hot coals as part of a team building retreat - and about their subsequent second and third degree burns. At least they all had something in common after the exercise. But what is the number one dumbest moment in business, you ask? For that you'll have to consult the boys at Enron, if you can find them.

Finally, something to make the rest of us feel smart. Well, unless you were an investor, of course.