I am using this definition of causality[0], which is precise, and you use it in a much more general sense. > I didn't know that smoking caused less obesity. I

I am using this definition of causality[0], which is precise, and you use it in a much more general sense. > I didn't know that smoking caused less obesity. I would have thought it was because of monetary reasons. It does not cause less obesity. It is correlated with less obesity, possibly through suppressed appetite -- but it's also possible that it's actually a reflection of economic background which is also correlated with obesity. It apparently does cause more alertness (in the same way that coffee does -- enough of it will make you awake and alert, too much will kill you). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality#Probabilistic_causation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality#Probabilistic_causat...