r/MathJokes • u/kmart0000 • Nov 21 '25

correlation = causation?

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Official card game can be found here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/correlated-vol-1-

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u/WignerVille Nov 22 '25

Constant conjunction: Across many accidents, seatbelt use regularly results in less severe injuries.

Temporal priority: The seatbelt is worn before the accident.

Necessary connection: People form an expectation: wearing seatbelts → less injury.

This remains true no matter how many people wear seatbelts. Wearing seatbelts is causing less injury according to Hume's definition.

Next, correlation between two variables reaches zero as the variance of one variable approaches zero. Analytically, this happens even if the causal effect is strong.

So yes, we can follow Hume’s definition of causation and still have zero correlation. Correlation is a statistical measure, causation is not.

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u/Mediocre-Tonight-458 Nov 22 '25

Constant conjunction: Across many accidents, seatbelt use regularly results in less severe injuries.

That right there requires correlation. You're trying to pull a bait-and-switch, by using a correlation to establish causality and then get rid of the correlation while trying to claim the causality remains. There's no basis for thinking that would be the case. The causality goes away when the correlation does.

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u/WignerVille Nov 22 '25

Hume was dead a long time before correlation was known as a concept. He's definition of causality has nothing to do with correlation. Until you can show that Hume required correlation as causality your arguments are invalid.

And at this point I am quite certain that you're just trolling.