Causal mechanisms and correlation

Can someone help explain to me what the difference between a causal mechanism and correlation is? I've got in my notes that a causal mechanism is where something causes/influences something else and that correlation means there's a relationship between 2 things but to me they seem like the same thing.

Reply 1

Zarek

You can have things that occur together in the same time frame, so are ‘correlated’ but there is absolutely no causal link between them. Ridiculous examples are often cited eg ice cream sales and shark attacks both increase in summer

Reply 2

bl0bf1sh

Original post by RandomPancake

causal mechanism is where something causes/influences something else
Yes, so (for example) the more chillies you put into a curry, the spicier it'll be.

correlation means there's a relationship between 2 things
i.e., if one thing changes, we see a change in another thing as well. It does not automatically mean that one of them caused the other one to change! There are some funny examples here: https://www.statology.org/correlation-does-not-imply-causation-examples/
The correlation may be due to another factor which affects them both. So for the ice cream/sharks example: in summer it's generally a bit warmer, so ice cream sales will probably increase, and people are more likely to go for a dip in the sea (where there might be sharks). :smile: