4 ms·
Huh? Sure, randomized control trials in humans have not been performed. But, there is no debate about whether smoking causes cancer. From cell-based and anim
by hcknwscommenter 7y ago
Huh? Sure, randomized control trials in humans have not been performed. But, there is no debate about whether smoking causes cancer. From cell-based and animal models to retrospective epidemiological studies, the data are clear. Smoking causes cancer. Do we need randomized controlled trials to "prove" cutting someone's head off causes death?
- Scoundreller 7y agoI’d go with cancer is correlated with smoking. But yes, I expect some rigour that avoids confounding variables by design to say “causes”. Great theories have been destroyed before. We should account for what degree other characteristics about smokers causes cancer (e.g. socioeconomics or other factors leading to addictions). You can still blink after your head’s chopped off. Debatable if you’re immediately dead or not.
- woadwarrior01 7y ago> I’d go with cancer is correlated with smoking. Judea Pearl‘s book on causal inference, “The book of why” spends a couple of chapters on the fascinating story of how the causal connection between smoking and cancer was finally established.