Can you outsmart the fallacy that fooled a generation of doctors? - Elizabeth Cox episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 27, 2026 · 8 MIN

Can you outsmart the fallacy that fooled a generation of doctors? - Elizabeth Cox

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the false cause fallacy, which assumes that one event causes another, and learn how to distinguish between correlation and causation.--It’s 1843, and a debate is raging about one of the most common killers of women: childbed fever— no one knows what causes it. One physician has observed patients with inflammation go on to develop childbed fever, and therefore believes the inflammation causes the fever. What's the problem with this argument? Elizabeth Cox explores the false cause fallacy and how to dissect claims with skepticism.Lesson by Elizabeth Cox, directed by TOGETHER.Animator's website: https://wearetogether.ca/Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterSupport us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagramView full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-outsmart-the-fallacy-that-fooled-a-generation-of-doctors-elizabeth-coxThank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Vaibhav Mirjolkar, Thomas Bahrman, Allan Hayes, Aidan Forero, Uday Kishore, Mikhail Shkirev, Devesh Kumar, Sunny Patel, Anuj Tomar, Lowell Fleming, David Petrovič, Hoai Nam Tran, Stina Boberg, Alexandrina Danifeld, Kack-Kyun Kim, Travis Wehrman, haventfiguredout, Caitlin de Falco, Ken, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Elena Crescia, Thomas Mungavan, Alejandro Cachoua, Jaron Blackburn, Yoga Trapeze Wanderlust, Sandy Nasser, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, Nicolle Fieldsend-Roxborough, John Saveland, Jason Garcia, Robson Martinho, Martin Lau, Senjo Limbu, Joe Huang, SungGyeong Bae, Christian Kurch, Begum Tutuncu, David Matthew Ezroj, Sweetmilkcoco, Raphaël LAURENT, Joe Meyers, Farah Abdelwahab, Brian Richards, Divina Grace Dar Santos, Jessie McGuire, Abdullah Altuwaijri and Sarah Burns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Can you outsmart the fallacy that fooled a generation of doctors? - Elizabeth Cox

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