ToKCast Ep 32 Ch 12 "A Physicist's History of Bad Philosophy" Part 3. Some readings and remarks
Sep 30, 2020
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Correlations Need Causal Explanations
- Correlation without causal mechanism is explanationless science and often useless for prediction.
- Without an explanation you cannot reliably extrapolate or make causal claims from correlations.
Power Station Health Study Example
- The power-station health study looked like a link between proximity and worse outcomes but physics refuted EM radiation as the cause.
- A socioeconomic third factor (lower land value and poorer healthcare) explained the correlation instead.
Limits Of Survey Proxies
- Self-report proxies (checkboxes) often fail to measure subjective states like happiness objectively.
- Some proxies work when tied to testable external consequences, but not for raw qualia.