“correlation does not imply causation”

Question

I’ve seen this referenced a lot, especially with psychology, but can someone explain what exactly it means? How does correlation not imply causation? Sometimes, does correlation ever imply causation?

In: 160

Answer 1

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-we-do-it/201307/the-stork-and-baby-trap

“Pioneering statistician George Udny Yule, author of the seminal 1911 textbook Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, explained confounding factors with a pleasing reference to reproduction. He noted that in Alsatian villages numbers of human newborns are correlated with numbers of storks nesting locally. It is tempting to conclude that storks do actually deliver babies, but the real explanation is far more mundane. Larger villages have more houses with chimneys for storks to build nests, and more babies are of course delivered in larger villages.”