Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc


Post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this therefore because of this) is based on the notion that because one thing happens after another that that first event was the cause of the second event. This episode of the Big Bang Theory does a good job at showing this. Sheldon states that just because his mother's church prayed for their safety on the trip and that they actually did return safety, that it was not because of the prayers that this actually occurred. Something even more interesting though is in the comments where there was another case of post hoc ergo propter hoc. Back in 1999, West Wing aired an episode on season two titled "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" (of which I do not know what happened in that episode). However, the funny thing that people are saying that this appeared on the Big Bang Theory because that episode of West Wing occurred or that Sheldon watches West Wing. After this therefore because of this, or post hoc ergo propter hoc.

No comments:

Post a Comment