Timeline for Correlation vs Causation
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2012 at 2:14 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Winston Ewert: Ooops! I must be getting old - I've only just noticed the strip! Don't ask me how, but I just read the first paragraph, and the one starting "Ultimately", then started typing my comment. I still didn't even register it when I hit return, and saw your comment - which I assumed meant Henry's first hyperlink led to a cartoon. I haven't had much sleep the past few days - perhaps I'd better go lie down for a while! :) | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 2:00 | comment | added | Winston Ewert | @FumbleFingers, I'm not sure how not-clicking on the link establishes that upvotes haven't occurred because of the image. :P | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 1:42 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | btw - I didn't follow the link (and still haven't), so the answer to your question is because it's a good answer. IMHO, obviously - YMMD. | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 1:40 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Winston Ewert: Should we describe the fact of my comment appearing directly after yours as correlation or causation? In this restricted context, you were the "ultimate cause" with your original question. Henry's answer was the "proximate cause", but what if I'd pressed return a few seconds earlier instead of fiddling about changing the exact wording? There is considerable overlap between correlation and causation, so it's not a good area to get too hung up on right/wrong interpretations. | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 1:32 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I think you're right it boils down to how cause is used. The particular case in point is a very borderline one. Do you vote the way you do because your parents vote/voted that way? Most people like to think they make up their own mind - but then again, most people like to think they think, and even that ain't necessarily so... | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 1:32 | comment | added | Winston Ewert | Are you getting upvoted because you've got a good answer or because you have an XKCD strip? :P If the comment had said ultimate not proximate causation, then I'd agree with your answer. But he said correlation not causation, and I have trouble seeing how that implies what you argue here. | |
| Jan 23, 2012 at 1:12 | history | answered | Henry | CC BY-SA 3.0 |