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Re:“The Book of Why” by Pearl and Mackenzie by Fomite on Friday January 11, 2019 @04:32PM (#18887306)
Some of these "toy" problems have had pretty major practical effects. For example, reconciling the disagreement between cohort studies and RCTs, in many medical contexts, come down to remarkably simple causal diagrams.
Re:“The Book of Why” by Pearl and Mackenzie by bachmeier on Friday January 11, 2019 @05:32PM (#18887832)
I don't disagree. I'm not debating the value of Pearl's approach. I'm saying other methods can also be helpful. Pearl does not accept that.
Re:“The Book of Why” by Pearl and Mackenzie by kgwgk on Friday January 11, 2019 @06:25PM (#18888202)
What methods?

His main point is that "To properly define causal problems, let alone solve them, requires a vocabulary that resides outside the language of probability theory. This means that all the smart and brilliant statisticians who used joint density functions, correlation analysis, contingency tables, ANOVA, Entropy, Risk Ratios, etc., etc., and did not enrich them with either diagrams or counterfactual symbols have been laboring in vain — orthogonally to the question — you can’t answer a question if you have no words to ask it." http://causality.cs.ucla.edu/blog/index.php/2018/06/11/stati...