"Correlative Causes"

Sugar intake in our diets has increased by nearly 50% over the past 50 years or so. At the same time, our life expectancy has increased with it. Thus, eating sugar makes you live longer.

<end asinine assertion>

All too often we fall prey to studies and news reports that try to portray causes because of correlation: If A happened when B happened then somehow A and B have a dependency. We as a populous react on these assertions - usually without much thought. After all, we aren't all scientists. We don't have access to the data, but it sounds right... right?

There are many complexities that are out there and these "correlative causes" are designed to simplify understanding - they intend well, but they sometimes over-extend themselves. For example, not too many people would disagree that smoking greatly increases your chances of health problems.

It doesn't take one too long to scour the Internet to find some pretty interesting assertions through "correlative causes". Pets make us live longer. A glass of wine a day will make you live longer. Omega-3 fatty acids will make you live longer. If there ever was a correlation to be found from any of these things it would be that they're all focused on allowing you to live longer.

Without getting too deep into politics - we've seen enough "correlative causes" from politicians, "A happened because B was happening."

If you took away the promise of living longer and the antics that come along with politics, how many "correlative causes" would actually appear? Probably very few.

If you were to look into the unfathomable chain of events that guides your life, you would find a near-infinite number of "correlative causes" that will cause you to meet your doom and prove that you've been voting incorrectly.

In summary, do your best to separate what is truly a cause and not just a correlation - the world isn't so doom and gloom after all.