What is Causality?

Ah, yes. Causality. We love it and hate it. We seek it for resolution, but sometimes we don’t want to find it.

· Advertising causes sales.

· Fear causes flight or fight.

· She dumped me because I flirt.

· Vaccinations prevent disease.

To my understanding, causality is fundamentally difficult or impossible to prove. It is a truth. Causality seems to be a consensus of experts, claimed by countless experiments and observations - sometimes by an authority.

In centuries past, causality was the domain of religion, philosophy, and God. Permanent. Yet, today’s cause may become tomorrow’s fantasy.

Now, causality is mostly an aspect of science. Rushing to causality is a modern consequence of ubiquitous models, each establishing, in part, a correlation or correspondence. Personal causality is always a risk, always subject to emotion.

Think of causality as a working solution to a problem, a pathway to finding a cure, or leading to deeper understanding. Causality is frequently a victim of progress.

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