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The Art and Science of Cause and Effect
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The topic of this lecture is causality – namely, our awareness of what causes what in the world and why it matters.
Though it is basic to human thought, causality is a notion shrouded in mystery, controversy, and caution, because scientists and philosophers have had difficulties defining when one event truly causes another.
We all understand that the rooster’s crow does not cause the sun to rise, but even this simple fact cannot easily be translated into a mathematical equation.
Today, I would like to share with you a set of ideas which I have found very useful in studying phenomena of this kind. These ideas have led to practical tools that I hope you will find useful on your next encounter with cause and effect.
It is hard to imagine anyone here who is not dealing with cause and effect.
Whether you are evaluating the impact of bilin- gual education programs or running an experiment on how mice distinguish food from danger or spec- ulating about why Julius Caesar crossed the Rubi- con or diagnosing a patient or predicting who will win the presidential election, you are dealing with a tangled web of cause–effect considerations.
UCLA Faculty Research Lectureship Program - Organizational Body
NONE
Social Science
English
1996
1-28
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