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> ... I can show it is ABSOLUTELY TRUE that the population
> of Sri Lanka is strongly correlated with the change in US Stock
> market values over the last six or seven years. It is not only
> perfectly correct, and quite clear as I stated it, but totally
> misguided in terms of causality, in fact!
Two comments:
1) Cause and effect is a big and profound
issue.
Are we trying to avoid
it in physics?
2) The ABSOLUTELY TRUE above is meaningless
unless
the "strongly correlated"
is declared. It may be
true if "strongly" means
r>0.8. But it is not
likely to be true if
"strongly" means r>0.99.
Unlike in psychology, r>0.99 are quite common in physics. For
example, when we plot measured values of terminal speeds versus
masses of falling objects. Or when we plot amps versus volts (for
a wire at room temperature), etc.
Ludwik Kowalski