Correlation
CORRELATION
"Correlation does not imply causation."
This is a popular phrase used to sort out problems being scrutinized for solutions .
This 'truth' is also being carried over to human behavior. Especially in human family behaviors,
this phrase is used by damaged people to build a golden dome over their family relationships -
to immunize them from scrutiny.
And I would like to insert the concept of grandfather clause into this debate. 'Grandfather clause' is a building code term that means there is a prior circumstance,
which by its existence, creates a unique perspective on a given issue.
Fatherlessness has several common, yet not-absolute effects on people, who grew up without their biodads in the home. These effects include higher rates of the following difficulties:
> poverty, reliance on taxpayer assistance
> entrance into the world of foster care
> dropping out of high school
> physical, emotional and sexual abuse
> acceptance of risky sexual relationships
> involvement in illegal behaviors
> drug abuse
> suicide
Humans do not operate like elements in the periodic table. We do not automatically obey preset instructions when interacting with other elements of life.
Human free will does not guarantee that fatherless youth MUST fall into any of these difficulties, yet fatherless children are the identifiable people-group most vulnerable to these problems.
We can also say that people conceived outside of marriage are most likely to be fatherless.
AND... though divorce can make people fatherless,
the parents most likely to divorce began having sex before marriage.
Now, if we look at the list above, we can say that one difficulty did not automatically cause one of the other difficulties, they both may be cascading effects of the real causation;
Sex outside of marriage.
Sex outside of marriage is the grandfather clause that creates this stewpot of troubles.
Human free will and other circumstances determine the degree of difficulty each child faces.
But one difficulty can aggravate another difficulty.
So, when someone curtly says 'correlation does not imply causation',
consider the possibility that both negatives may be grandfathered in -
as two of the cascading effects of a prior, greater event.
Look for the source event.
