Posted: Apr 30, 2012 4:16 pm
Thommo wrote:Thommo wrote:A better example might be whether we were to say that being black is a causal factor in having a Primaquine reaction. It is.
Actually, I may be wrong about that, it isn't any better as an example because it might be again a product of spurious correlation, in this case the underlying cause is the particular genome of certain populations, which causes both their skin colour and the greater rate of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.
That's the kind of distinction that I - and, I assume, Shrunk - was talking about.
Technically, from a genetic standpoint, there is no such thing as a "black" genome. There are merely genes for particular characteristics that correlate in groups that we give labels to. Though I assume you know that from your use of the phrase "certain populations" rather than "race".
Anyway, the distinction I'm talking about is the difference between saying weight training causes physical strength and saying weight training causes the wearing of Lycra.