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Reality

Coronavirus, Correlation & Causation

Martin Jenkins uses the virus to test our knowledge of causation.

Because of the coronavirus, the skies are bluer, and my vision has improved.

Do those assertions sound crazy? Well, they probably do; but I can demonstrate that they are, if not literally true, logically justifiable. It is an undoubted scientific fact that one result of the lockdown was a severe reduction in travel – both flights and on the ground. As a result, pollution levels have dropped significantly, and so the sky is bluer than usual for want of haze. Also, that lack of haze means that I can look out of my bedroom window, and, for the first time in thirty-four years, see clearly to the horizon – in my case, several miles away in north London.

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