Good post.
Unfortunately there is no lack of fools or of foolishness. There is the game that some genius youth pastors thought up where kids tried to see how many cotton balls they could stuff in their mouths at once (until someone choked to death), the challenge on a radio station to see how much water one could drink at once (woman died of internal drowning), and the recent internet craze called the salt challenge - holding salt and ice in the hand until the pain is so intense you have to quit. It leads to frostbite and could result in permanent nerve damage to the hands. Oh, and the kids who inhale helium to make their voices sound funny until the helium displaces the oxygen in their blood and the kids die.
Why do people do this stupid stuff?
The same question applies to the idiot kids doing skateboard stunts. I think for many people there is a realization that they are doomed to very mediocre lives unless they are willing to take extraordinary risks.