What is the difference between correlation and causation?
String-Puller Detective
What is the difference between correlation and causation?
Here's a riddle that has fooled scientists, advertisers, and your one uncle who's sure his lucky socks win football games. Two things happen together — over and over. So one must be causing the other, right? Not so fast. This is the great mix-up between correlation and causation, and once you spot it, you'll see it everywhere.
Let's start with correlation. Correlation just means two things tend to move together. When one goes up, the other goes up too — or maybe one goes up while the other goes down. That's all it claims. Two patterns dancing in step. It does NOT say one is bossing the other around.
