Arrow of causation

The arrow of causation is a concept used to understand the direction of cause and effect. It indicates which event or factor directly influences another—essentially showing the flow from cause to effect. For example, smoking (cause) leading to lung disease (effect) is represented by an arrow pointing from smoking to lung disease. This helps clarify how different factors are related and ensures we understand which changes lead to specific outcomes, rather than just observing that two things happen together. It’s a way to map out and analyze the directionality of influences within a system.