The History of 'Correlation Does Not Imply Causation'

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The History of 'Correlation Does Not Imply Causation'

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 2, 2012 @07:30AM from the does-not-imply-godwin-either dept.

Dr Herbert West writes "The phrase 'correlation does not imply causation' goes back to 1880 (according to Google Books). However, use of the phrase took off in the 1990s and 2000s, and is becoming a quick way to short-circuit certain kinds of arguments. In the late 19th century, British statistician Karl Pearson introduced a powerful idea in math: that a relationship between two variables could be characterized according to its strength and expressed in numbers. An exciting concept, but it raised a new issue: how to interpret the data in a way that is helpful, rather than misleading. When we mistake correlation for causation, we find a cause that isn't there, which is a problem. However, as science grows more powerful and government more technocratic, the stakes of correlation — of counterfeit relationships and bogus findings — grow larger."

8 of 223 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Maybe by mgrivich · 2012-10-02 07:34 · Score: 5, Funny

http://xkcd.com/552/
1. Re:Maybe by jcwayne · 2012-10-02 07:47 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Then there's this: http://xkcd.com/925/
  
  --
  Failure to follow this advice may result in non-deterministic behavior.
2. Re:Maybe by nharmon · 2012-10-02 08:05 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  After that, I started holding laptops exactly like that, making people cringe. True story.
On the other hand ... by fahrbot-bot · 2012-10-02 07:40 · Score: 4, Funny

... and is becoming a quick way to short-circuit certain kinds of arguments.
... Correlation does not imply causation.

--
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
1. Re:On the other hand ... by Tackhead · 2012-10-02 08:02 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  ... and is becoming a quick way to short-circuit certain kinds of arguments.
  ... Correlation does not imply causation.
  The decline in classical education standards is, however, a causal factor behind the shift from references to the "post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy" towards references to the phrase "correlation does not imply causation".
Causation was a tool of the Nazis. by EvilNTUser · 2012-10-02 07:45 · Score: 5, Funny

The people who mindlessly deny the possibility of causation are worse than those who compare everything to Hitler.

--
My Sig: SEGV
1. Re:Causation was a tool of the Nazis. by arth1 · 2012-10-02 07:57 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The people who mindlessly deny the possibility of causation are worse than those who compare everything to Hitler.
  Funny you should say that. My recent studies have led me to the conclusion that being a vegetarian causes you to become a bad painter.
Re:fundamental by JustOK · 2012-10-02 07:46 · Score: 3, Funny

It caused it.

--
rewriting history since 2109