Wrong direction

Wrong direction is a logical fallacy that occurs when a cause is mistakenly considered an effect.

The fallacy is a fallacy of causation.

Alternate names

 * reversing causation
 * confusing cause and effect
 * faulty causal direction

Examples

 * Chanticleer the rooster crows loudly enough to bring the sun up.
 * Cancer causes smoking.
 * The street lights turning on causes the Sun to set.
 * Winds are caused by waving trees.
 * Kids that play a lot of video games are the most violent. Clearly, video games make children more violent.
 * Not only is this an unrepresentative sample, but it's possible that violent children play video games because they are violent.


 * Evolution causes mutation