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I'm really looking forward to the comments on this one. Overall it is a variation on the "correlation is not causation" theme and that defining variables in a s
by 1337biz 14y ago
I'm really looking forward to the comments on this one. Overall it is a variation on the "correlation is not causation" theme and that defining variables in a social setting is super tricky, if not to say impossible.
- cousin_it 14y agoIt seems to me that when people say "correlation is not causation", they typically mean you can't learn about a causal relationship by just looking at the correlation. The article makes the converse statement: you can't infer the absence of a causal relationship from the absence of correlation, or equivalently (contrapositive), even when you know there is a causal relationship, it won't necessarily lead to a visible correlation in the data.
- endersshadow 14y agoWell, more to the point: The data analysis game changes entirely once you've introduced an intelligent actor (in this case the driver).
- cousin_it 14y agoFeedback processes don't have to be intelligent, e.g. the thermostat mentioned in the title.
- Symmetry 14y agoIt's actually much more subtle than "correlation is not causation". More like "goal seeking behavior can remove all correlation from a causal relationship," which is very different since causation normally causes correlation, and normally is you don't see correlation you can be sure that there isn't any causation.