Remember James Boswell, ninth Laird of Auchinleck, author of the famous maxim that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Trying to build realistic theories differs dramatically from having correct explanatory theories tested on objective criteria, e.g., verifiable prediction....

One research function is proposing new scientific theories; another is testing the falsifiable predictions of those theories. Eventually, sufficient observations reveal valid predictions. For the impatient, behold statistical methods, which attribute inconsistent predictions to either faulty...

Despite warnings against inferring causality from observed correlations or statistical dependence, some articles do. Observed correlation is neither necessary nor sufficient to infer causality as defined by the term's everyday usage. For example, a deterministic causal process creates...