Photo credit: Lin Pernille Photography

To celebrate both the spirit of independence and epic battles, we Pop!Tech bloggers decided to post something a little offbeat today.

Craig Newmark, the independent (and himself slightly offbeat) founder of craigslist.org , allows readers to post to a running “Best of ” list. These listings from his incredibly popular, lo-fi “classifieds” offer brief glimpses into the weird, wonderful, often way-out lives of craigslist users.

Those of you interested in evolution and Darwinism will appreciate one noble scientist’s research in the area of “candy battles”.

Survival Of The Fittest (from reader in Tampa Bay, FL)

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the “loser,” and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3×5 card reading, “Please use this M&M for breeding purposes.”

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this “grant money.” I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

By the way, Craig has a blog and a twitter account, so if you’d like to know more about him (other than the fact that he is an all-around nice guy) give him a read or a follow.

Happy 4th of July to our American readers! To all, may your weekend tournaments be nothing short of grand.