[youngump]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

This isn't true. Lots of random events have both correlations and causations with other events. Car accidents, in general, are a random event. Yet, there's a strong correlation between accidents and alcohol consumption by one or both drivers beforehand. A drunk driver in a huge parking lot with no cars or obstacles isn't going to wreck (assuming he stays on the lot) but on the road with barriers, lights, and other drivers, well, you know the result. A car accident, obviously, doesn't cause drunk driving and DD, while strongly correlated with accidents (and vice versa), doesn't cause them. (This is an academic discussion; don't drink and drive to prove me wrong; just debate the point. PLEASE.)

Car accidents are not a random event. They are caused by the things that lead up to them. Those things are causative. There's a strong correlation between drinking and accidents because drinking is a causal factor in accidents. Things will be correlated only if one causes the other or both share a common cause. Causes don't necessarily have to be exclusive.
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