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{{a|glossary| | {{a|glossary|{{Image|Quincunx|jpg|A [[quincunx]], yesterday}}}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Script|Triago}}: If substance is family then form is the state <br> | |||
A contrivance, precariously stack’d <br> | |||
Bids yield our resilient bonds<br> | |||
To th’escapements of voguish clockery <br> | |||
To rudely declare in the interests of nation<br> | |||
A final victory of correlation over causation<br> | |||
{{Script|Nuncle}}: But the cleverest contraption rusts<br> | |||
Upon immersion in snot.<br> | |||
: —{{Buchstein}} {{br|The Victory of Form over Substance}}}} | |||
The idea, following from Sir Francis Galton’s experiments with a [[quincunx]] and first articulated by statistician Karl Pearson<ref>So [https://slate.com/technology/2012/10/correlation-does-not-imply-causation-how-the-internet-fell-in-love-with-a-stats-class-cliche.html Slate Magazine] argues, at any rate.</ref> that a relationship between two variables could be characterised according to its statistical strength and expressed in numbers, ''regardless of any perceived [[Causation|causal]] connection between them''. | |||
If one can derive significance from a purely statistical correlation without a deeper mechanical theory of the universe that might tell us ''why'', we are well on our way to an [[Artificial intelligence|artificially intelligent]] future where [[Chatbot|robot]]s can wipe elderly arses, [[Rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated - technology article|all bankers are redundant]] (good, right?), [[A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond - Book Review|so is everyone else]] (''not'' so good?) and it is only a matter of time before Skynet becomes self-aware and starts hunting down random skater kids from the 1990s. | If one can derive significance from a purely statistical correlation without a deeper mechanical theory of the universe that might tell us ''why'', we are well on our way to an [[Artificial intelligence|artificially intelligent]] future where [[Chatbot|robot]]s can wipe elderly arses, [[Rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated - technology article|all bankers are redundant]] (good, right?), [[A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond - Book Review|so is everyone else]] (''not'' so good?) and it is only a matter of time before Skynet becomes self-aware and starts hunting down random skater kids from the 1990s. |