Saturday, November 20, 2010
Two Mistakes in Evaluating Cause and Effect
I found the section of Chapter 15 that discussed the two mistakes in evaluating cause and effect to be both interesting and useful. The first mistake that this section discusses is, "Reversing Cause and Effect." The example that was given showed how Tom reversed cause and effect in the statements that he made. The second example that was given also helped me to better understand this concept. The second example showed how Suzy reversed cause and effect. The next concept that was discussed in this section was titled "Looking too hard for a cause." I found this concept to be very interesting. "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" was also discussed. This means "after this, therefore because of this." This tends to occur when people overlook a possible cause. There can definitely be more than one cause for many events, so it is not right to jump to a conclusion so quickly. This section explained that we look for causes because we want to understand things, which makes sense. Another thing I found interesting was that for many things we will not be able to figure out a cause because we do not know enough.
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Hey Kenny Powers, I really enjoyed your post on the two mistakes in evaluating cause and effect. You gave interesting information that made me interested in your post such as the example of Tom and Suzy from the book. The way you’re presented this information was fun and interesting so that allowed me to better understand what the book was discussing. I also found the concept of looking too hard for a cause very interesting and the way you’re discussed it keep me enlightened and intrigued to the concept. I like the way you explained post hoc ergo and propter hoc; it was both simple and easy to understand which make understanding that concept easy. Overall I enjoyed reading your post and hope you keep it up.
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