The Difference Between Causality and Correlation

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Abstract

ated deaths, when we think about Hawaii, there are about 4 thousand public phones and the same 4 thousand heart related deaths, imagine now that you are a scientist and you want to understand such relation, so we put that on a chart.<figure id="4dab"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*HgLuEhnI1Rwq82p97p2spA.png"><figcaption>Illustration by author</figcaption></figure>Look what we’ve found, a positive correlation, that means, when one variable goes up, the other one goes up as well, on that example then, the more public telephones the more heart related deaths.Look what we’ve found, a positive correlation, that means, when one variable goes up, the other one goes up as well, on that example then, the more public telephones the more heart related deaths. But you must be asking yourselves what on earth public phones has to do with heart diseases? And, as I said before, nothing. Another question you must be asking is why there’s a correlation on those two variables, that happens

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when there’re other variables that could explain both (Heart Related Deaths and public phones), that hidden variable could be the number of habitants for example.When scientists find correlation over some phenomenon, it has to come with an explanation, that is called causality and there’s no such thing as causality on public phones and heart deaths. Correlation without a cause means nothing, I used some weird and extreme example, but think that it could be enzymes on our body, social issues on a city, that’s the difficult that not only scientists faces everyday on their projects, but people on their daily lives, how can we know the causality behind the Golden State Warriors NBA championships, was the numbers of one player or the interaction between all the organization? How do we know that some numbers are not only empty correlations? One thing I know for sure, to learn the cause of certain phenomenon, is to learn its intelligibility.P.S.: All data I used were collected on their government websites.</article></body>

The Difference Between Causality and Correlation

Before anything, the answer to the question on the title is obviously “No”, that isn’t a story about conspiracy theory, it’s the absolute opposite, the issue here is science.

By any means I’m saying that the New York’s public phones are radioactive or something, it is just an example I took to try to enlighten something that a lot of people misunderstand or don’t even know what it is, correlation and causality.

What does it have to do with public phones, then? New York City has a little more than 8 thousand public phones according to their city site and in 2017 about 44 thousand heart related deaths, when we think about Hawaii, there are about 4 thousand public phones and the same 4 thousand heart related deaths, imagine now that you are a scientist and you want to understand such relation, so we put that on a chart.

Illustration by author

Look what we’ve found, a positive correlation, that means, when one variable goes up, the other one goes up as well, on that example then, the more public telephones the more heart related deaths.

Look what we’ve found, a positive correlation, that means, when one variable goes up, the other one goes up as well, on that example then, the more public telephones the more heart related deaths. But you must be asking yourselves what on earth public phones has to do with heart diseases? And, as I said before, nothing. Another question you must be asking is why there’s a correlation on those two variables, that happens when there’re other variables that could explain both (Heart Related Deaths and public phones), that hidden variable could be the number of habitants for example.

When scientists find correlation over some phenomenon, it has to come with an explanation, that is called causality and there’s no such thing as causality on public phones and heart deaths. Correlation without a cause means nothing, I used some weird and extreme example, but think that it could be enzymes on our body, social issues on a city, that’s the difficult that not only scientists faces everyday on their projects, but people on their daily lives, how can we know the causality behind the Golden State Warriors NBA championships, was the numbers of one player or the interaction between all the organization? How do we know that some numbers are not only empty correlations? One thing I know for sure, to learn the cause of certain phenomenon, is to learn its intelligibility.

P.S.: All data I used were collected on their government websites.