Hi everyone !
Today's subject is correlation and causation !
Correlation
Two events (let's say X and Y) are correlated if we observe a dependancy, a relation between them.
For instance : number of hair of a man has a tendency to decrease when growing older : we can say that age and number of hair are correlated !
Correlation or causation ?
A common reasoning mistake is to say: "X and Y are correlated, so X is causing Y". That way we confuse correlation and causation because in reality, it's possible that Y causes X, or that X and Y have a common cause Z, or else that X and Y are accidentely connected but without any causation link !
Some examples
- Driving a wheelchair is dangerous, because most people who drive them have had an accident.
- Average life expectancy is higher in country where we eat the more meat. Can we conclude that if you eat only meat, you will live better ?
You can found a lot more examples on the wonderful website : spurious correlation
I believe it's really important to know this because you can be tricked if you don't know !
Don't you think ? Tell me in the comments
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