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Things that apparently cause cancer

211 points · 78 comments · timpera

  1. Magi604 · · focus · HN ↗
    Every time I come across an article about cancer, I'm reminded of that website that catalogued all the things that The Daily Mail said either caused or prevented cancer.

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20200221175201&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;kill-or-cure.herokuapp.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20200221175201&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;kill-or-cu...

    Too bad it&#x27;s down, but here&#x27;s an archive of it.

    1. kreelman · · focus · HN ↗
      Is this whole article (the article in this Hacker News post, to be clear) an example of

         &quot;Correlation is not causation&quot;  ?
      1. tjwebbnorfolk · · focus · HN ↗
        The strength of the correlation might be the only useful single variable we can have in discussions like this.

        I&#x27;m starting to think that &quot;Correlation is not causation&quot; is a kind of slippery slope toward a world where nobody can ever prove the cause of anything. At the same time, just about everything is at least a mild carcinogen including food, the sun, air particulates, etc. But knowing that everything causes cancer isn&#x27;t useful information. Knowing the strength of the correlations of each of these things is actually useful.

        Without correlation, what are we left with?

        1. asdfasvea · · focus · HN ↗
          My retort is always:

          Saying &#x27;Correlation isn&#x27;t causation&#x27; doesn&#x27;t disprove causation.

          1. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

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