"Screening off" is an informal term of art in causal reasoning. If A,B, and C are random variables, the Causal Markov Condition asserts that if A causes B and B causes C then knowing the value of A provides no information about the probability density of C over knowing the value of B.
It is also said that B screens off the causal effect of A on C. I hope that helps, Frank --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 10:07 AM <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, All, > > > > If any of you had any spare brain time, I am interested in the attached VERY > SHORT > <https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:a6e9c10b-06dc-4ea1-8ffa-d450df62489a> > article: > > > > I am struggling here with the idea of "screening off". Does it mean more > or less than the following: Granted that, If I had ham, and I had eggs, I > would have ham and eggs, having eggs screens off having ham from having ham > and eggs? Screening off seems a very odd metaphor. Is it a term of art > in logic? > > > > Also, a general problem I have with causality: My understanding of > causality is that event A can cause event B if and only if A is > independently known from B (an event cannot cause itself) AND occurs prior > to B Now imagine two perfectly meshed gears, such that motion in one is > instantly conveyed to the other. I turn gear A and gear B turns. Has the > motion in A *caused* the turning of B or has my turning of A caused the > motion of B? With the gears, this may just seem like a fussy “in the > limit” sort of question, but there seem to be other phenomena where it’s > worth asking. Does the discharge of potential along the ionized (?) path > CAUSE the lightning? > > > > I realize that the rest of you have spouses, dogs, cats, hobbies, and day > jobs, but any off hand thoughts you have on these matters would be greatly > appreciated. > > > > Nick > > > > You can view > "PM-2017-MethodologicalBehaviorismCausalChainsandCausalForks(1).pdf" at: > > > https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:a6e9c10b-06dc-4ea1-8ffa-d450df62489a > > > > ________________ > > Sent with Adobe Document Cloud. Click on the link above to access the file > online. No sign up or installation of Acrobat is required to access. > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ >
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