Correlation

From Sysadmin

Just because even A correlates with event B does not mean that even A caused event B. It could be that even B causes even A or both might be caused by another event C. The correlation of the two events might even be coincidental.

Example

A good example of this can be seen through a recent study on sleep and life expectanct[1]. According to the study people who sleep more than 8 hours actually don't live as long as people who sleep 7 hours (A implies B). The implication is that extra sleep is unhealthy. This may surprise many people.

An alternative interpretation is that people who are sick have a lower life expectancy and and spend more time sleeping (A and B are both implied by C).

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