Posted by Doo on July 27, 2001, at 23:27:31
In reply to Re: Smoking and Psychosis, posted by Seamus2 on July 27, 2001, at 20:29:38
> Correlation is NOT causation!
I totally agree with you. So often poeple think they see causes where the only think we can observe is correlation. It drives me nuts sometimes. Isolating factors is a hard job, but it MUST be done before we say there is causation. And in so many cases it is simple impossible. Poeple who smoke have more severe simptoms. We can't say that cigarette is the cause. I haven't read those articles. But I wonder if any valid method has been used. Did they make some poeple stop to smoke to see if their symptoms were less severe? And if it was the case, maybe the symptoms diminished because of the satisfaction they could feel participating in such a research. And so on.
Why do so many scientists and searchers (who are supposedly known for their great logical capabilities) fall into the trap? I don't know. Maybe it's just a matter of having a paper published. Need for recognition, need that seems stronger than the mature and responsible part of them, which can think in a honest, and logical way.
Doo.
poster:Doo
thread:72093
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010725/msgs/72167.html