Correlation Versus Causation

My psychology teacher junior year of high school had some… interesting thoughts he liked to share with the class, and we were supposed to treat them as gospel despite many of them not being the least bit true. This is one of the few times I was able to refute his “logic”.

Teacher: “You’ll notice that I’ve rearranged the classroom to have the desks in sets of four rather than seven. Please choose your seats.”

Cue the class shuffling around.

Teacher: *Smugly* “Just as I thought. See, people who are most likely to sit in the first seats are A students. Those of you who chose the seats in the back are D students at best. You might even fail. It never fails; those with the worst grades always sit in the back!”

Me: “Or we’re just tall and don’t want anyone to have to sit behind us and try to see over us?”

Teacher: “What?”

Me: “I’m over six feet tall. I’m one of the tallest kids in this room, if not this school. I’m taller than you. Of course, I picked a seat in the back.”

Fellow Tall Classmate: “Yeah, same. I’m just tall and don’t want anyone to try and see over me. We both sat in the back when the seats were arranged the other way because we’re tall, nothing else.”

Teacher: “Well… hm…”

Fellow Tall Classmate: *To me* “What’s your grade? I’ve got a high B right now.”

Teacher: *Quietly* “She has an A.”

Not only did I keep my A, but I had the highest grade out of that class and the second-highest out of all his classes, and I sat in the back all year. And my fellow tall classmate finished up the year with his B!