Ok, sure, when David Brooks, or the Freakonomics guys, or the Guns, Germs, Steel guy, claim they've nailed the causality of something, that's often facile gibbe

Ok, sure, when David Brooks, or the Freakonomics guys, or the Guns, Germs, Steel guy, claim they've nailed the causality of something, that's often facile gibberish. All this does nothing to undercut the validity of causality itself. I hope that's obvious, despite the clickbait title of the OP.