It appears that we have many people with a sophomore understanding of "Correlation" who want to change our country and this blog will show why.
The whole idea of correlation is like a sharp knife. It can cut two ways. As humans we have been using the idea of correlation since we first climbed out of the cave. Rather than go to Webster for the definition, let's think about it this way. As humans we use our brains to collect data and then reason about that data to see if it fits together in some way. As a cave men, we get thirsty and like water to drink so we searched for water and noticed that when we walked down hill we found water more often than when we walked up hill. Conclusion was that water flowed down hill rather than up and that was where it could most often be found. What we had was a correlation with where water could be found and we salted that knowledge away for future use. See how smart cave men were?
Like that sharp knife we could use it, but not understanding that it could cut both ways. This is where the sophomore idea comes in. A little knowledge can be dangerous. When we look around today, we notice that people with dark skin don't earn as much as people with white skin. This is a clear correlation, but does is also prove "cause and effect"? If we were to look a little deeper into our data set and divide those with dark skin between those from Africa and India, we would find very different correlation results. That should point out to anyone that the color of the skin may not be the "cause" of the lower income level.
What appears to be happening is that we have a large group of liberals who appear to be well educated who have a sophomoric understanding of correlation. They do not appear to understand that correlation does not define a "cause and effect". I have a rooster that crows every morning about an hour before the Sun rises. It is a 100% correlation, but his crowing does not cause the Sun to rise. Most of the debate about race is based on these kinds of meaningless correlations rather than looking more deeply for the true cause. If you were to examine the earnings for people who do not finish high school to those who do finish high school, you would find a strong correlation, plus you could add test for the "cause and effect".
I think you may be starting to see how many liberals have been lead down the wrong path by their poor understanding of the concept of "correlation". It is just another case of where a little knowledge can be dangerous.
