Q&A: How do you connect cause and effect?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
How do you connect cause and effect?
Question
Hello to the Rabbi, may he live long.
How does science reach the conclusion that thing A caused thing B? There are many things because of which it could have happened, so why specifically because of one particular thing? Kind of like the joke about how once several scientists wanted to test a fly: they cut off its wings and said to it, “Fly.” Of course the fly didn’t fly. From this they reached the conclusion that a fly without wings can’t hear.
I hope I managed to explain myself.
Answer
It’s hard to give a general answer. In general, you use elimination. For example, you can check whether the fly hears other things and rule out the possibility that it can’t hear. Look up Francis Bacon’s inductive logic.