It seems there is an Indian guy the surgeons discovered had a uterus. So they took it out. Personally, I think this to have be something of a cavalier decision. I mean, the bloke could’ve made a lot of money out of that: I don’t know about you, but ‘The Uterus Man’ would’ve pulled me into any circus sideshow with ease. I’m also moved to ask what other bits he had.

One chap from Idaho who didn’t have four vital bits died yesterday when his parachute didn’t open. The four missing parts were two legs and two arms. “He crashed to the ground,” said an American press report, “because he couldn’t pull his parachute cord”. I’m slowly beginning to understand the case for Health & Safety, if there are wombats around who let paraplegics jump out of aeroplanes.

But it’s a bit harder to get one’s head round the case for Germans. Der Spiegel today quotes research showing that, when not chasing down to the poolside armed with five towels at 5.45 am, German holidaymakers spend over 50% of their holidays looking for faults in the holiday. You see, the thing is, your Germans aren’t good at holidays, chiefly because they take place in latin countries where the aim is to have a good time and get over the fact that the hot and cold taps are the wrong way round.

It all sounds completely barmy, dunnit? But consider, does it sound any more bonkers than the following….

Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero has been forced to postpone his holiday because, um, his country is insolvent. As Britain heads in the same direction, the British press is primarily upset because the Prime Minister is unsure about how to tip Italian waitresses. While this furor was raging, Italy the country was heading more quickly than either country towards unrepayable debt. Both Spain and Italy were key guarantors of the ‘deal’ to save Greece.

In the light of enormous global economic problems, investors are rushing to buy into a shiny yellow metal of little use to anyone beyond tooth fillings. Having brought America to the brink of a default, a US pressure group calling itself after a taxation revolt from over 200 years ago announced that it felt bad about compromising at the eleventh hour. The European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, reported that the unemployment rate among job seekers aged 15-24 in the 17-nation currency bloc is still over one-in-five. Analysing how this might have happened, Brussels observed that, ‘when the [period of employment help] is over, young people go back to unemployment’. Across Europe, hospital casualty departments were overwhelmed by people who fainted after hearing the news.

The explanation for all this silliness is very simple: we are a species unfortunate to have been given an enlarged brain to allow for more oxygen supply to the head during flight from predators. The decision of some of us to use this incredible idea in order to indulge in overthink is at the core of our current problems.

It causes us to reach daft conclusions, embrace daft concepts, waste our time on daft pursuits, and then invent distractions in order to deny our daftness.

Climate change? I’m no longer sure it’s real: but if it is, bring it on: nothing accelerates evolution faster than climate change.