The Concept of False Cause and Result

As educated human beings, we are able to make predictions about what will happen as a result of an action. Sometimes the results of actions are very clear and can be attributed to the action with 100% certainty, but other times, this may not be the case.

For example, sometimes something may happen and you think it is a direct result of something else when in fact it is unrelated and just happens to be a coincidence. When this happens, it is easy to mistake the result as being caused by the initial action. I will explain this concept here with some examples.

Say you eat a big meal and you feel full. Then you see a dessert that looks good and you are considering eating it. You might decide to skip it because you think if you eat it, you might get a stomach ache. So you decide to skip it. Then a little while later you end up with a stomach ache anyway. If you would have eaten the dessert, you would have blamed the stomach ache on this action, when in fact, the same result occurred even when skipping the dessert. In this situation the result is blamed on something that was not necessarily the cause.

Another example, say you are driving somewhere and you consider taking an alternate route, but at the last minute, you decide to take the usual route. Then maybe there is an unexpected delay on the usual route. You might think about how the alternate route would have been faster, but it is just as likely that the alternate route could have been just as slow if not slower. You might blame your choice for making you late, when in fact, you might still have been late even if you took the alternate route.

One more example, say there is an update available for your phone but you decide to put it off. Then later that day you have some trouble with your phone. If you had done the update, you probably would have blamed the problem on the update when in fact, the problem occurred even without doing the update.

Examples like these can happen all the time where we blame a result on something that may not have actually been the cause. Have you noticed any instances like this in your life? Feel free to share them in the comments below.