In a truly bizarre find on Steve’s Politics Blog, he found a chart included in an article by Stephen Johnson titled ‘The Trouble with QSAR (OR How I stopped Worrying and Embrace Fallacy)” that includes the truly unexplainable chart shown above. And yes, you’re reading those axes correctly: Total US Highway Fatality Rates vs Metric Tons of Lemons imported from Mexico.
Lowe writes, ‘The most arresting part of the article is the graph found in its abstract. No mention is made of it in the text, but none has to be. It’s a plot of the US highway fatality rate versus the tonnage of fresh lemons imported from Mexico, and I have to say, it’s a pretty darn straight line. I’ve seen a lot shakier plots used to justify some sweeping conclusions, and if those were justified, well, then I’m forced to conclude that Mexican lemons have improved highway safety a great deal. The vitamin C, maybe? The fragrance? Bioflavanoids?
‘None of the above, of course. Correlation, tiresomely, once again refuses to imply causation, even when you ask it nicely.’
via Diversion–Highway Fatalities and Lemons : Steve’s Politics Blog. via Chart Porn
