Cause or Effect?

Unraveling Intriguing Dynamics

In the complex dance of life, it's often hard to distinguish the leading partner. Is it cause or effect? We might think we have a handle on which is which, but reality is often not as straightforward as we'd like it to be. Sometimes what we perceive as an effect might, in fact, be a causative factor, instigating a chain of events that shapes our world in significant ways.

No, I’m not talking about the very nature of time. If you want to hear me rant about that, just let me know and I’ll oblige. Instead, I want to simply share with you a handful of intriguing examples where the usual understanding of cause and effect may be reversed. We'll look at how the inversion of the yield curve may lead to economic recession, why exercise might boost our energy levels rather than depleting them, how media can shape public opinion rather than simply reflecting it, why building more roads could create more traffic, not less, and finally, how the use of the internet can drive technological innovati…