3 ms·
The quote you cite is interesting if not a little worrisome. Maybe its just acting as a first-filter of things to (not) investigate at more expense later? Oth
by jwally 6y ago
The quote you cite is interesting if not a little worrisome.
Maybe its just acting as a first-filter of things to (not) investigate at more expense later?
Otherwise you'd get a ton of studies promoting solutions as cause-and-effect when they're only coincidentally related:
- U.S. Spending on science correlates @99.8% with suicide by hanging
- Drownings correlates with Nic Cage films @66%
- Japanese passenger cars sold in US correlates with suicide by motor-vehicle @ 93.57%
*source: https://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations https://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
- devaboone 6y agoI love this Spurious Correlations site. And you are correct - a correlation can be a first-filter, especially if you have some reason to believe that there would be a causative connection. And though "correlation does not equal causation" is a cliche, it is still so easy to get sucked into equating the two. Part of the human brain's desire to make sense of things.
- kwillets 6y agoCorrelation does not equal causation, but it correlates with it.