Interesting but More Research Is Needed

Padraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna have recently analyzed (original article here) myths such as “The Iliad,” “Beowulf,” or “The Tain” to see if the social networks in them resembled real social networks or the social networks in known works of fiction. Apparently, they tend to resemble real social networks … if you remove the most fictional characters. This research might be worth repeating for a larger sample of myths and a larger sample of fiction.

The research also needs an additional control group. The researchers should analyze the social networks of history as well as the social networks of ordinary people. After all, you could probably prove that Barak Obama more closely resembles fictional characters than ordinary people or that World War II was a work of fiction.