Post hoc
Also called: Post hoc ergo propter hoc, After, therefore because
Assuming that because one thing followed another, the first caused the second.
How to spot it
Is timing the only link between the two events?
Example
“I wore my lucky socks and we won. The socks work.”
How to answer it
Look for other causes, and ask whether there is a mechanism that connects the two.
Related
- Correlation is not causation: Assuming that two things which move together must have a cause-and-effect link.
- Single cause: Blaming one factor for something that has several causes.
- Regression to the mean: Crediting a treatment for a change that would have happened anyway, since extreme results tend to return to normal.