ELI5 Edition Discord Version Try the Political Version

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

The Fallacy

Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B.

Why it's wrong

Of course, sometimes one event really does cause another one that comes later—for example, if I register for a class, and my name later appears on the roll, it's true that the first event caused the one that came later. But sometimes two events that seem related in time aren't really related as cause and event. That is, correlation isn't the same thing as causation.

Example

The rooster crows every morning right before the sun comes up. Therefore, the rooster firmly believes that his crowing causes the sun to rise.