4 ms·
Just people finding relationships in data, and likely getting tripped up with intervening variables. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediation_(statistics) https
by thedudeabides5 6y ago
Just people finding relationships in data, and likely getting tripped up with intervening variables.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediation_(statistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediation_(statistics)
Without any causal model, a lot of this medical research is just staring too hard at scatter plots of correlated variables. I heard the other day that herpes is correlated with Alzheimer's. Is herpes correlated with air-pollution? Probably. Do we know what the real cause of Alzheimer's is? No way.
- nnain 6y agoYeah, I go about telling people the importance of knowing that “Correlation is not causation”. Most people just don’t care to understand it, “But the scientists said xyz, who are you to question them?”. “Erm, someone who likes stats and common sense”