Correlation Does Not Imply Causation

Reader beware! Take anything you read on Wikipedia or anything on the Web with a pound of salt. All too often the information is dead wrong or incomplete or based on old or 2nd-hand references. There ain't no fact-checkers working 24/7, making sure what you read on the Web is on the up and up.

However, I did take applied statistics at my alma mater, Hunter College, and I've read up on statistics before and after college. So, I think I know what I'm talking about. When I say here that the below Wikipedia entry is correct.

Wikipedia: "Correlation Does Not Imply Causation"

This is a very common logical fallacy. Confusing correlation with causation. Correlation is the relationship between two variables. Causation is when one variable has an effect on another variable. Correlation may suggest a causal relationship between the two variables. Or the seemingly causal relationship may be only coincidental. Statisticians and scientists are always warned to remember that "correlation does not imply causation."

But, what the hell does all this have to do with my campaign against college education?

Too many idiots who don't know what statistics is really all about. They like to cite the U.S. government's statistics that, over a lifetime, a college degree translates into an extra million dollars over a high school graduate's income. See the below link.

About.com: "Lifetime Earnings Soar with Education"

In other words, a college degree = $1 million. More education = more income.

Sounds right. But how about this argument.

Smart kids go to college. Smart kids who have the funds usually go to college. Smart kids usually finish college within four to five years. Smart kids with degrees usually get good jobs. Smart kids with degrees usually earn over a lifetime more than most high school graduates.

Sounds right. Don't you think so? Did the smart kids who finished college earn more than the high school graduates because they were smart or because they had college degrees?

I would argue that the smart kids, the majority, would have earned more than the high school graduates whether they went to college or did not. Smart kids are smart with or without a sheepskin.

I would go far outside the box and say that the smart kids would have earned even more than the high school graduates if they didn't bother with college at all.

Education is part of the puzzle to making the big bucks. But not the biggest component. Sometimes it doesn't count at all.

I'm 100% for learning, but I'm 100% against education. Especially, higher education.

It's a complete waste of time and money. Smart kids are better off learning about the real world. As soon as possible. Because that's where we all have to live in. The real world.