1. transcript
  2. The Parable of the Doctorate Rabbit

The Parable of the Doctorate Rabbit

By apalazzo on August 9, 2006.

I got this funny/cynical email from a good friend. What do you think?

In the jungle of research, a small white rabbit stumbles upon a wolf.

"What's a bunny doing here? " says the famished wolf.
"I am doing an important piece of research work for my thesis, " says the rabbit.
"And what is that?"
"It's all about the superiority of rabbits on wolves."
"Hin hin."
"Don't you believe me? Come in my place."

And no one ever heard about the wolf anymore.

Sometimes after that the rabbit meets a Tiger in the jungle of research.
Asked what he is doing in such a perilous place, the rabbit says: "A thesis work on the superiority of rabbits on tigers. And if you don't believe me, come to my place."

And no one ever heard about the Tiger anymore.

And then just before his sabbatical year, the rabbit met with a fox in the jungle. He invites the fox, who do not believe in the superiority of rabbits on foxes, to come to his place. And inside the rabbit's home, the fox sees a small amount of wolf bones, and next to them a not so small mount of tiger's bones.

And next to them, there is a table. Behind it, in an armchair, there is a lion. On the desk a small sign says "Director of Research."

La morale: it does not matter what the subject of your thesis is, it's what power you boss really has.

Tags
lab life

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Oh, that one is ancient. With variations of course. The first time I heard it (in Serbo-Croatian language when I was a kid), it was "it only matters who is on your committee".

I guess good memes (in the Dawkins sense of the term)survive because they're selected for. I've been wanting to post some other great "old" stories ... (although this one is new to me).

This is ancient. What I don't understand about your version is why it goes Wolf < Tiger < Fox. Doesn't really make sense. The versions I've heard also use coturnix's punchline as yours is a bit of a let down. I also might add that I think a Tiger could take a lion but I don't want to be a pedant.

(Dammit, you can't use less than signs in HTML, should have previewed.

This is ancient. What I don't understand about your version is why the heirarchy goes Wolf then Tiger then Fox. Kind of spoils the punchline. I also have more often heard coturnix's version of the punchline which makes a bit more sense to me. I might also add, trying not to be a pedant, that I think the average tiger could take the average lion.