Academics say the darndest things….

16 June 2009, 0224 EDT

From a recent article on social-science methodology:

For example, gravity is a trivial necessary cause of revolution, because gravity is simply always present regardless of whether or not a revolution happens.

Clearly, not everyone in my field is a science-fiction fan.

nb: someone has suggested to me that the authors mean “revolution” as in “Venus revolves around the Sun.” But gravity is certainly not a non-trivial cause of such revolution; given the context of the article, I’m pretty sure the authors use the term in the “grab the pitchfork and storm the castle” sense….