Debunking Another Spurious Correlation . . .
By Barry Ritholtz - February 11th, 2012, 7:17AM
Another Dilbert lesson on Correlation:
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Classic !
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Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
February 11th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
No one? Tough crowd.
February 11th, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Luckily it wasn’t raining
February 11th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Well, I guess if you were unhappy and married, you’d just get divorced, so the result is just selection bias.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Actually BR, I would say the research shows that marriage and happiness are correlated/ However you cannot from that draw the conclusion that marriage causes happiness. Dilbert is suggesting that the causation may operate in the opposite order.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Obviously, BR, the correlation simply proves that smarter people are more unhappy (the cause of the unhappiness being likely due to a higher awareness of all the world’s negatives) :-)
February 12th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
If you must, the ideal may be to marry a sharp bird who can conquer negativity. Because there aren’t enough of those to go around, it might be more practical to marry a dumb, happy and hot bird. They typically lose all three at the same time, making for the opportunity for a clean, if expensive, break.
February 13th, 2012 at 8:13 am
A cynic might say that another possible interpretation is that married people are too stupid to know they are miserable, and the correlation is between IQ & happiness… Not saying that is true, just that a case could be made.