A Story from a PhD Thesis

Scene: It’s a fine sunny day in the forest, and a rabbit is

sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along
comes a fox, out for a walk.

Fox: “What are you working on?”
Rabbit: “My thesis.”
Fox: “Hmm. What is it about?”
Rabbit: “Oh, I’m writing about how rabbits eat foxes.”

(Incredulous pause)

Fox: “That’s ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits
don’t eat foxes!”
Rabbit: “Sure they do, and I can prove it. Come with me!”

They both disappear into the rabbit’s burrow. After a few
minutes, the rabbit returns, alone, to his typewriter and resumes
typing. Soon, a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking
rabbit.

Wolf: “What’s that you’re writing?”
Rabbit: “I’m doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves.”

(Loud guffaws)

Wolf: “You don’t expect to get such rubbish published, do
you?”
Rabbit: “No problem. Do you want to see why?”

The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow, and again the
rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to
typing.

Scene: Inside the rabbit’s burrow. In one corner, there is a
pile of fox bones. In another corner, a pile of wolf bones. On the
other side of the room a huge lion is belching and picking his
teeth.

THE END

MORAL OF THE STORY:
It doesn’t matter what you choose for a thesis subject.
It doesn’t matter what you use for data.
What does matter is who you have for a thesis advisor.