Lesson 13: False Cause

Spot the Faulty Logic #

“Studies show that students who eat breakfast get better grades. So if you want better grades, just eat breakfast!”

Discussion: Talk with your teacher about this example. What might be missing from this reasoning?

How/Why It’s Often Used #

Humans naturally want to understand why things happen. When we see two things occurring together, our brains quickly assume one must cause the other. This mental shortcut usually helps us navigate the world, but it can lead to faulty conclusions.

False cause reasoning is common in advertising, health claims, and everyday explanations. It’s also closely related to the Post Hoc fallacy, but broader - it includes any time someone mistakenly identifies a cause, not just when events happen in sequence.

False Cause in Action #

Did you spot the faulty logic? #

The real cause might be different. Perhaps families who have time to provide breakfast also have more time for homework help, or more resources for education. Breakfast might be correlated with good grades without being the actual cause. Simply adding breakfast won’t necessarily improve grades if the real causes are different.

Second Example #

“Cities with more ice cream sales have more drowning deaths. Ice cream must be dangerous!”

The Flaw #

Both ice cream sales and swimming (which leads to drowning risk) increase in summer due to hot weather. The weather is the common cause - ice cream doesn’t cause drowning at all.