Which statement is true?

a. Correlation or association proves causation.

b. Causation requires either correlation or association.

c. Causation can exist without correlation or association.

d. All correlations indicate causal links.

e. If there is correlation, then there is causation.

One of the biggest logical fallacies is that correlation implies causation.

If you see that the number of pirates has been decreasing every year while global warming is on the rise, you could not say that pirates cause global warming.

From this we can rule out these:

a. Correlation or association proves causation

b. All correlations indicate causal links.

e. If there is correlation, then there is causation.

Now it just comes down to whether causation requires correlation to exist.

Let's think about what that means. If something happens, two variables must be matching up to cause it, right?

What about something simple like "a tree falls in the forest and makes a sound?"

There's no correlation there (only one variable, simple cause and effect) but could there be association? Well, association would just mean that the two events are related ... and cause and effect are always related! Every event has a cause associated with it, so b. Causation requires either correlation or association is true.