false cause
Mistaken reason assigned
False cause is a logical error that assumes one thing caused another simply because they occurred together or in sequence.
The classic form is *post hoc ergo propter hoc*—"after this, therefore because of this": I wore my lucky socks and we won, so the socks caused the victory.
False cause reasoning underlies much superstition and many flawed arguments, mistaking correlation for causation.
- logical fallacyError in reasoning
- fallacyError in reasoning
- faulty reasoningInvalid logical process
- correlationStatistical relationship measure
- post hocAfter the event
coincidence · superstition · old wives tale · blame · scapegoat · assumption · jumping to conclusions · flawed · reasoning · mistaken · spurious · connection · link · error · illogical · myth · misconception · attribution
- fallaciesstraw man, red herring, circular reasoning, ad hominem, fallacy
- logical fallaciesfallacy, straw man, ad hominem, red herring, slippery slope
- rhetoric termsethos, pathos, logos, ad hominem, oratory
- research errorsmeasurement error, sampling error, systematic error, selection bias, confirmation bias
- argumentsargument, arguing, disagreement, bickering, dispute
- Misconceptionsmisconception, myth, fallacy, mistaken belief, misbelief
false causesound argument
Logically valid reasoning
valid argument · logical inference · evidence-based reasoning · scientific method
false, falsely, falseness, falsify, falsification, falsified, falsifier, falsity, cause