Paul (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} happyfunpaul) wrote,@ 2009-03-07 09:18:00 |
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[links] Correlation does not imply causation (or does it?)
Just in case anyone missed it, I absolutely loved yesterday's XKCD:
I was also reminded of this fake news article written by one of my esteemed fellow grad students (probably Dan Horn, possibly Shane Mueller) over a decade ago at the Cognition and Perception Area in U. Michigan's Psychology Department. It reads in part:
NEW POLL SHOWS CORRELATION IS CAUSATION
WASHINGTON (AP) The results of a new survey conducted by pollsters
suggest that, contrary to common scientific wisdom, correlation does in
fact imply causation. The highly reputable source, Gallup Polls, Inc.,
surveyed 1009 Americans during the month of October and asked them, "Do
you believe correlation implies causation?" An overwhelming 64% of
American's answered "YES", while only 38% replied "NO". Another 8% were
undecided. This result threatens to shake the foundations of both the
scientific and mainstream community.
"It is really a mandate from the people." commented one pundit who wished
to remain anonymous.
I wish it were true. Then the fashion industry could just cause the stock market to go up merely by raising hemlines.
The scientific community is deeply divided on this matter. "It sure makes
my job a lot easier." confided neuroscientist Thad Polk. "Those who
criticize my work always point out that, although highly correlated,
cerebral blood flow is not 'thought'. Now that we know correlation IS
causal, I can solve that pesky mind-body problem and conclude that
thinking is merely the dynamic movement of blood within cerebral tissue.
This is going to make getting tenure a piece of cake!"
Incidentally, Dr. Polk has long since become tenured at U. Michigan. :-)
The rest of the Happy Hour archive is pretty good too. While a lot of the articles required specific or specialized knowledge, and some of them have in-jokes that fewer than two dozen people in the world will understand (case in point: the Psych Olympics), look for the ones marked "A" and you'll probably do fine.
Just in case anyone missed it, I absolutely loved yesterday's XKCD:
I was also reminded of this fake news article written by one of my esteemed fellow grad students (probably Dan Horn, possibly Shane Mueller) over a decade ago at the Cognition and Perception Area in U. Michigan's Psychology Department. It reads in part:
NEW POLL SHOWS CORRELATION IS CAUSATION
WASHINGTON (AP) The results of a new survey conducted by pollsters
suggest that, contrary to common scientific wisdom, correlation does in
fact imply causation. The highly reputable source, Gallup Polls, Inc.,
surveyed 1009 Americans during the month of October and asked them, "Do
you believe correlation implies causation?" An overwhelming 64% of
American's answered "YES", while only 38% replied "NO". Another 8% were
undecided. This result threatens to shake the foundations of both the
scientific and mainstream community.
"It is really a mandate from the people." commented one pundit who wished
to remain anonymous.
I wish it were true. Then the fashion industry could just cause the stock market to go up merely by raising hemlines.
The scientific community is deeply divided on this matter. "It sure makes
my job a lot easier." confided neuroscientist Thad Polk. "Those who
criticize my work always point out that, although highly correlated,
cerebral blood flow is not 'thought'. Now that we know correlation IS
causal, I can solve that pesky mind-body problem and conclude that
thinking is merely the dynamic movement of blood within cerebral tissue.
This is going to make getting tenure a piece of cake!"
Incidentally, Dr. Polk has long since become tenured at U. Michigan. :-)
The rest of the Happy Hour archive is pretty good too. While a lot of the articles required specific or specialized knowledge, and some of them have in-jokes that fewer than two dozen people in the world will understand (case in point: the Psych Olympics), look for the ones marked "A" and you'll probably do fine.
