xkcd on the correlation between correlation and causation

Tim Finin, 8:20am 6 March 2009

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The common observation that correlation does not imply causation is a cold and cruel idea that knows no mercy.

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Categories: Humor Comments: 4

4 Responses to “xkcd on the correlation between correlation and causation”

1. Joel Says:
   March 8th, 2009 at 7:50 am

   Wired says that the correlation/causation distinction is quaint and obsolete.

2. Seinberg Says:
   March 8th, 2009 at 8:51 am

   The mouseover text on the xkcd image is great too: “but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing ‘look over there’ “

3. Breanna Says:
   March 9th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

   haha, I like it.

4. Greg Says:
   March 11th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

   Based on a large sample of studies, I measured the correlation between correlation and causation to be 0.977 – strong enough to believe that, for all practical purposes, correlation causes causation.

   http://ghill.customer.netspace.net.au/correlation-causation.html