Draft:Causal thinking

Causal thinking is a preliminary step of causal inference. Causal thinking emphasizes a mindset that acknowledges asymmetric causal relationships. It involves categorizing variables not merely as associated with each other but specifically as causes and effects. Causal thinking is distinct from correlational thinking, which is common in statistical analysis. For example, from a causal perspective, the independent variable in linear regression is considered the 'cause,' while the dependent variable is considered the 'effect.' In contrast, from a correlational perspective, the two variables are associated with each other and are thus interchangeable.