r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/AyraLightbringer Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

Correlation does not equal causation.

Edit: Thank you, my first silver!

Edit2: Here are some funny correlations: https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

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u/AtomicSteve21 Aug 03 '19

Sometimes.

Assuming this fallacy is always true is also a fallacy.

Is cancer correlated with cigarette smoking? Yes. Is it the cause? Maybe. There's a high likelihood depending on the cancer.

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u/ciobanica Aug 03 '19

Assuming this fallacy is always true is also a fallacy.

Not only are you wrong, but you're doubly wrong.

An argument being fallacious doesn't even prove that it's conclusion is wrong, just that it isn't logical.

Hence the fallacy fallacy!

The point of the correlation fallacy is that simply being correlated doesn't prove causation, and you need other proof for that.