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What's a true fact that is so misleading it's borderline misinformation? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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What would be some fact that, while true, could be told in a context or way that is misinfomating or make the other person draw incorrect conclusions?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

First thing you learn in a statistics course is that correlation doesn't equal causation.

Correlation: two thing happening at the same time or one thing happening right after the other, regardless of whether the things are at all connected

Causation: one thing happening BECAUSE of the other

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

~~Oh yes I got my definition of correlation slightly wrong. Correlation doesn't necessarily mean that two things have the same cause but they do relate in some way either by having a common cause or by occuring in the same system. They definitely have more in common than happening just at the same time or right after each other like a coincidence.~~

~~I didn't claim that correlation equals causation and I hope you didn't get the impression because this would be oviously wrong.~~

Edit: I stand corrected and today I learned that "correlation" means that two things have a statistical relation without any causal relation implied. There can be a causal relation but it's not necessary. The key takeaway for me is that correlation describes a statistical relationship.