3 ms·

Correlation is not causation.

zyfo 15y ago
Saying correlation is not causation without adding anything else amounts to nothing, it's just a phrase. From HN user apl, because he said it better than I could: This certainly is a true and tested adage, but I've got a feeling that the correlation-backlash has gone too far in the other direction. Don't just repeat it without getting it. If substantiated through proposal of a suitable mechanism, correlation is solid corroboration of a causality-claim. More precisely, correlation most definitely never implies absence of causation.
- wanorris 15y ago
  One possibly relevant consideration: people who are elderly and/or infirm often have to sit around a lot more, because they are physically incapable of moving around as much. This may (or may not) account for some of the increased likelihood of death and other negative health effects. Another possibly relevant consideration: having an active job means moving around and doing something. Switching from sitting at a desk for hours to standing at a desk for hours may prove to be no more beneficial, because the critical component may be the moving around part. Not trying to be a parade rainer, but I'm always cautious about supposed breakthrough health trends, because there are many complicated interacting factors that make up someone's overall lifestyle and health factors. In the past, isolating a single factor (oat bran!) has rarely proved to be a panacea.
- brown9-2 15y ago
  Every data point used in this infographic shows correlation between sitting all day and poor health. I'm tired of seeing this argument repeated without any attempt to analyze the causes - this infographic is just as meaningless as my original pithy remark. It's just a way to take advantage of trends (standing desks) to get web traffic.
Jach 15y ago
Please don't use this quote as a way to shut down discussions. If you're genuinely ignorant about how causality and correlation interact, go learn about it. (Judea Pearl's Causality is pretty good.)
- _delirium 15y ago
  But that is all this infographic consists of--- some correlations presented as if they were causal proof, with no actual analysis of whether that's the case. It has claims like "SITTING MAKES US FAT", with no support besides a correlation (and not even a particularly strong or well-controlled correlation).

zyfo 15y ago

Saying correlation is not causation without adding anything else amounts to nothing, it's just a phrase. From HN user apl, because he said it better than I could: This certainly is a true and tested adage, but I've got a feeling that the correlation-backlash has gone too far in the other direction. Don't just repeat it without getting it. If substantiated through proposal of a suitable mechanism, correlation is solid corroboration of a causality-claim. More precisely, correlation most definitely never implies absence of causation.

wanorris 15y ago
One possibly relevant consideration: people who are elderly and/or infirm often have to sit around a lot more, because they are physically incapable of moving around as much. This may (or may not) account for some of the increased likelihood of death and other negative health effects. Another possibly relevant consideration: having an active job means moving around and doing something. Switching from sitting at a desk for hours to standing at a desk for hours may prove to be no more beneficial, because the critical component may be the moving around part. Not trying to be a parade rainer, but I'm always cautious about supposed breakthrough health trends, because there are many complicated interacting factors that make up someone's overall lifestyle and health factors. In the past, isolating a single factor (oat bran!) has rarely proved to be a panacea.
brown9-2 15y ago
Every data point used in this infographic shows correlation between sitting all day and poor health. I'm tired of seeing this argument repeated without any attempt to analyze the causes - this infographic is just as meaningless as my original pithy remark. It's just a way to take advantage of trends (standing desks) to get web traffic.

Jach 15y ago

Please don't use this quote as a way to shut down discussions. If you're genuinely ignorant about how causality and correlation interact, go learn about it. (Judea Pearl's Causality is pretty good.)

_delirium 15y ago
But that is all this infographic consists of--- some correlations presented as if they were causal proof, with no actual analysis of whether that's the case. It has claims like "SITTING MAKES US FAT", with no support besides a correlation (and not even a particularly strong or well-controlled correlation).