552: Correlation - Revision history

Lettherebedarklight: /* Trivia */ add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

2025-12-15T08:58:40Z

‎Trivia: add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

82.132.236.196: Undo revision 391071 by 165.155.141.11 (talk)

2025-11-17T18:48:07Z

Undo revision 391071 by 165.155.141.11 (talk)

165.155.141.11 at 18:30, 17 November 2025

2025-11-17T18:30:23Z

DollarStoreBa'al: Fun fact: you aren't being funny

2025-11-14T19:07:15Z

Fun fact: you aren't being funny

DollarStoreBa'al: Undo revision 390926 by 165.155.152.19 (talk)

2025-11-14T19:06:57Z

Undo revision 390926 by 165.155.152.19 (talk)

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165.155.143.23: /* Transcript */

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‎Transcript

165.155.152.19: /* Transcript */

2025-11-14T18:55:55Z

‎Transcript

165.155.152.19: /* Explanation */

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‎Explanation

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:58, 15 December 2025
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	[[Category:Statistics]]		[[Category:Statistics]]
	[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]		[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
		+	[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

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 ==Explanation==
-This comic focuses on the {{tvtropes|CorrelationImpliesCausation|apparent difficulty people have in understanding}} the difference between {{w|Correlation and dependence|correlation}} and {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables (DollarStoreBa'al likes dih, he sucked mine) are positively correlated, it means that as one variable increases so does the other, whereas a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. The human brain is very good at seeing patterns and deducing rules, and the seemingly natural conclusion is that that the one is leading to the other. In the example, that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease. This may well be true. The positive correlation is certainly not an argument '''against''' such a conclusion. But it is only one type of evidence and is certainly not proof.
+This comic focuses on the {{tvtropes|CorrelationImpliesCausation|apparent difficulty people have in understanding}} the difference between {{w|Correlation and dependence|correlation}} and {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables (like blood cholesterol levels and heart disease) are positively correlated, it means that as one variable increases so does the other, whereas a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. The human brain is very good at seeing patterns and deducing rules, and the seemingly natural conclusion is that that the one is leading to the other. In the example, that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease. This may well be true. The positive correlation is certainly not an argument '''against''' such a conclusion. But it is only one type of evidence and is certainly not proof.
 The relationship between diet and blood chemistry and heart disease is a complex one, but simpler examples abound. For example, if you tallied the sales of sunglasses and incidence of skin cancer by region, you would probably find that there is a high positive correlation. That is, in locations where many people buy sunglasses, there are also many cases of skin cancer. Here it would seem silly to believe that wearing sunglasses can cause skin cancer, but this is exactly the same thinking that allowed us to conclude that blood cholesterol causes heart disease. Correlations do have the ability to mislead us. In this example, both sunglasses and skin cancer are directly affected by a third factor (specifically, a climate where many people expose themselves to the sun). In essence, when two variables are correlated it does not provide evidence that one variable has caused the other. All it says is that their trends move in relation to each other. The correlation could be due to causality, but it could equally be due to other factors, or it could even be a random result.

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 ==Explanation==
-This comic focuses on the {{tvtropes|CorrelationImpliesCausation|apparent difficulty people have in understanding}} the difference between {{w|Correlation and dependence|correlation}} and {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables (like blood cholesterol levels and heart disease) are positively correlated, it means that as one variable increases so does the other, whereas a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. The human brain is very good at seeing patterns and deducing rules, and the seemingly natural conclusion is that that the one is leading to the other. In the example, that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease. This may well be true. The positive correlation is certainly not an argument '''against''' such a conclusion. But it is only one type of evidence and is certainly not proof.
+This comic focuses on the {{tvtropes|CorrelationImpliesCausation|apparent difficulty people have in understanding}} the difference between {{w|Correlation and dependence|correlation}} and {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables (DollarStoreBa'al likes dih, he sucked mine) are positively correlated, it means that as one variable increases so does the other, whereas a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. The human brain is very good at seeing patterns and deducing rules, and the seemingly natural conclusion is that that the one is leading to the other. In the example, that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease. This may well be true. The positive correlation is certainly not an argument '''against''' such a conclusion. But it is only one type of evidence and is certainly not proof.
 The relationship between diet and blood chemistry and heart disease is a complex one, but simpler examples abound. For example, if you tallied the sales of sunglasses and incidence of skin cancer by region, you would probably find that there is a high positive correlation. That is, in locations where many people buy sunglasses, there are also many cases of skin cancer. Here it would seem silly to believe that wearing sunglasses can cause skin cancer, but this is exactly the same thinking that allowed us to conclude that blood cholesterol causes heart disease. Correlations do have the ability to mislead us. In this example, both sunglasses and skin cancer are directly affected by a third factor (specifically, a climate where many people expose themselves to the sun). In essence, when two variables are correlated it does not provide evidence that one variable has caused the other. All it says is that their trends move in relation to each other. The correlation could be due to causality, but it could equally be due to other factors, or it could even be a random result.

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 :[Back to the same situation as the first frame.]
 :Megan: Sounds like the class helped.
-:Cueball: Well, suck my dih boy.
+:Cueball: Well, maybe.
 ==Trivia==

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 In addition, the title text's reference to waggling eyebrows and gesturing furtively while mouthing "look over there" is possibly a reference to the movie ''{{w|Ferris Bueller's Day Off}}'', in which the character of Cameron Frye tries to alert Ferris that Ferris's father is in the next cab over, and they are about to be discovered ditching school. What Randall is saying with this reference is that Correlation (if it were a character in a movie) is desperately trying to draw attention to Causation without openly stating this intention, and perhaps that correlation is a good place to start when looking for causation.
-At the end, [[Megan]] suggests that "the class sucked her dih" (which is a causation), but [[Cueball]] is not sold, exactly because correlation (taking the class and improved understanding of causation versus correlation) does not imply causation (taking the class leads to improved understanding).
+At the end, [[Megan]] suggests that "the class helped" (which is a causation), but [[Cueball]] is not sold, exactly because correlation (taking the class and improved understanding of causation versus correlation) does not imply causation (taking the class leads to improved understanding).
 ==Transcript==

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 ==Transcript==
 :[Cueball is talking to Megan.]
-:Cueball: I used to think my banana was large.
+:Cueball: I used to think correlation implied causation.
 :[Cueball lift his hand while continuing to talk to Megan.]
-:Cueball: Then I saw it. It's shriveled.
+:Cueball: Then I took a statistics class. Now I don't.
 :[Back to the same situation as the first frame.]
-:Mr. Shah: Yeah I know, my grandma told me.
+:Megan: Sounds like the class helped.
 :Cueball: Well, suck my dih boy.