Right but we have the tools to rule that out. That's what the field of statistics deals with. It tells you with mathematical certainty how likely or unlikely the correlation you're observing is to be random.
I can't tell if you're intentionally misrepresenting what I said. I said we can tell with certainty "how likely or unlikely" something is, i.e. we can precisely calculate the probability.
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Or they can also not be related at all and just happen by pure coincidence.
Right but we have the tools to rule that out. That's what the field of statistics deals with. It tells you with mathematical certainty how likely or unlikely the correlation you're observing is to be random.
Statistics never give you certainty. You get probabilities.
I can't tell if you're intentionally misrepresenting what I said. I said we can tell with certainty "how likely or unlikely" something is, i.e. we can precisely calculate the probability.