Statistics And Life

Thinking of statistics reminds of college. Stats were all about numbers and other dry “stuff” that had little relevance to anything important in life. That’s what I thought at the time. Yet, I am increasingly more intrigued by what statistics can show us and teach us about life.

I am not going to write about how awesome statistics is and how everybody should study it to understand life better, but I am going to share one thing that could change the way you see the world once and for all:

Correlation does not imply causation.

That’s it – correlation does not imply causation. Let it sink in for a minute.

Many people tend to think that correlation implies causation. Such manner of thinking is subconscious most of the time, yet  we have problems such as racism, xenophobia, sexism and many other isms that give rise to prejudice and judgment precisely because of that. It is because of that misunderstanding that many of us carry negative mental images of events, peoples, cultures and so on, which prevent us from openly interacting with those different from us. This is why we form stereotypes.

I am going to show you how understanding this simple statement: “Correlation does not imply causation” can help you rid your life of stereotypes once and for all. That statement on it’s own is the antidote for the poison of bias and judgment that runs wild in our world.

However, first, we must understand how stereotypes are formed in order to be able to apply the antidote.

How Stereotypes Are Formed

Our brain is mostly to blame for the formation of stereotypes in our mind.

Our brain has to process unfathomable amount of information during the day. It cannot possible understand it all because of the limited capacity of the brain. Even if it did, the process would take too long and would be of little benefit to us. That is why our brain comes up with certain rules or filters which kick in automatically, given a certain set of circumstances. This way our brain is trying to keep our mental capacity open for making the decisions that truly matter.

Another huge factor in formation of stereotypes is  something called information bias. If we are only exposed to a certain set of information about a particular occurrence, then our brain will receive only biased information. That will only accelerate the process of  stereotype forming.

Knowing this fact, we can easily see how the media can be used in the formation of stereotypes. The media sources can choose to form a desired stereotype in our mind by repeatedly exposing us with biased information creating associations in our minds without us even realizing.

Let us examine an example.

Let us assume that all tall people that you have ever seen in your life are basketball players. It is because you are a son or daughter of a basketball player. You are receiving biased information and over long periods of time. What happens in your head is this: all tall people are basketball players OR if you are tall then you must be a basketball player. You have formed a stereotype. You have not been exposed to enough of contradicting information for you to start doubting that all tall people are basketball players.

The above process can be easily generalized into the following observation. During my life I have experienced (I have seen, been told, heard of, etc) that people with X characteristic are Y; therefore, I will just assume that if I see a person with X characteristic, he will have a Y feature.

You can see how the above process easily gives rise racism, sexism, xenophobia and numerous other misjudgments about people.  That easily happens, if we are not aware of the fact that correlation does not imply causation.

The Cure

Let us revisit the example with the basketball players. Before you were introduced to the idea that correlation does not imply causation, you thought that all tall people are basketball players.

Here is how you thinking would change after the introduction of the idea that correlation does not imply causation. You would think the following: “Even though, all tall people I have seen in my life are basketball players, that is not necessarily the case because correlation does not imply causation. I might not have seen all of the tall people in the world for me to make this assumption. I should investigate more.”

So there you are. If you are aware of the fact that correlation does not imply causation, then you should be able to resits forming premature stereotypes about individuals, peoples, countries, associations and so on. Before jumping to conclusions ask yourself this: “Do I have enough information to form an opinion? Or, have I been exposed only to certain information with the intent of me forming a certain view about the event or a person? How and where can I find a contradicting piece of evidence which will negate my current understanding?”

If you just remember that correlation does not imply causation, then you will open up many doors in your life because of your open mind and curiosity and absence of judgment and bias. You will enrich your life with new and unexpected connections and experiences. Happy exploring!

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Image: instantatlas