Correlation via Causation

Many of us have a hard time differentiating between correlation and causation. It is extremely important to know the difference for critical thinking.

Correlation means that two variables have an association or relationship, while causation means one variable directly causes a change in another. It is crucial to remember that correlation does not imply causation, as their relationship could be a coincidence, or a third, unmeasured variable could be influencing both.

We all love stories and we all learn better through them. Business people know it too well and they spice up their pitch with anecdotes, how their products or their services helped or cured some people. They count on you not knowing the difference between correlation and causation, so you would think that their product was the reason people were cured, felt better etc. Very often anecdotal evidence does not consider all the variables, everything that could have influenced the outcome. It is easy to say it worked, didn’t it? What else could have been caused it? Eg. they all had taken the supplement and Voila, they got better!

In science we cannot just tell stories, scientists do double blind studies where they control as many variables they can think of. They hire test subjects but they don’t tell them if they are getting the real thing or placebo. If it is a medication or supplement, everything that goes into the body is controlled.

unfortunately it doesn’t happen everywhere. Supplements are not medications so they don’t have to be certified and tested through these strict studies. Their producers and sellers can make any statements they want and pass it on as evidence. Anecdotal evidence at that.

It is thew time for you to ask questions: how did they test the products, what methods did they use? Unfortunately if we use the supplement example, there is usually no written studies they can refer to, sometimes even the actual amount of ingredients are different then what is on the label.

So please be cautious and be mindful. Do your research and please do not buy into the hype and spend your money unnecessarily!