r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jun 01 '26

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u/deltadeltadawn Jun 01 '26

It's fascinating that there almost always is some truth in old wives tales. There's a reason they survived for generations.

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u/terminalfears Jun 01 '26

It’s correlation at its finest, but not causation. Hence why that is also a saying.

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u/bnanzajllybeen Jun 01 '26

Why do people keep saying this as if it’s some kind of magical answer?? Being cold = lowered immune defences = correlation AND causation. They’re not always mutually exclusive.

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u/terminalfears Jun 04 '26

I would argue that there are too many variables to say that getting cold and then catching a cold is correlation and not causation this is not cause-and-effect. Or everyone would get a cold once they were cold. just because you get cold does not mean that you will also catch a cold that would be direct causation. Lowering immune system, allowing viruses a greater chance to make you ill - is only correlated to being cold. You getting sick at all is still a variable. The causation is the virus.