When dealing with the Big Con, a little Latin goes a long way. Here's a useful phrase: cum hoc ergo propter hoc. It means, roughly, "with this, therefore because of it." Because two things happened at the same time, one must have caused another: correlation implies causation. It's a fallacy. Just because literacy and atmospheric sulfur dioxide increased at the same time, it doesn't mean that literacy caused air pollution. A recent editorial in Barron's offers a good example of the Conservative (mis)use of "cum hoc ergo propter hoc" arguments.. more »
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