van Gijn J, Rooijmans H G
Academisch Ziekenhuis/Universiteit Utrecht, vakgroep Neurologie, Utrecht.
Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 1998 Aug 1;142(31):1765-7.
If a factor A is often followed by an event B, it may erroneously be concluded that one causes the other. Actually B may have been brought about by a factor C (the true cause), A being only an epiphenomenon of C. If factors other than C (for example D or E) can cause the same effect B, none of those factors is a necessary cause. Causes often are multiple: a single causal factor is often not sufficient for a certain effect to ensue, whereas that effect can result from a number of factors acting together (simultaneously or consecutively).
如果因素A之后常常伴随着事件B，可能会错误地得出一个导致另一个的结论。实际上，B可能是由因素C（真正的原因）引起的，A只是C的一个附带现象。如果除C之外的其他因素（例如D或E）也能导致相同的结果B，那么这些因素都不是必要原因。原因通常是多重的：单一的因果因素往往不足以产生某种特定的结果，而该结果可能是由一些共同起作用（同时或相继）的因素导致的。
