Backwards Science

Short Definition

Adams' label for observational findings that may reverse cause and effect: a study treats a behavior or condition as the cause of an outcome when the outcome—or a third factor—may instead make that behavior or condition more likely.

Expanded Description

Scott Adams uses “Backwards Science” when reacting to studies that report an association and then invite a causal reading he considers directionally wrong. His recurring counter-question is whether the people who already have the favorable outcome are simply more likely to display the behavior being credited for it.

The marriage-and-happiness example makes the pattern explicit. Rather than accept that marriage causes happiness, Adams proposes that happier people may be more likely to marry. He applies the same reversal to exercise and brain health, game play and decision-making, dancing and productivity, relationships and sexual functioning, and other observational claims.

The label is a compact skepticism heuristic, not by itself proof that a study's conclusion is false. Reverse causality, self-selection, and confounding are possibilities to test against the study design, especially when the evidence is observational rather than randomized.

How Adams Uses It

• Reverse the arrow: Ask whether the reported outcome could be causing the behavior instead of the behavior causing the outcome.
• Look for self-selection: Consider whether people who are healthier, happier, or more capable are more likely to choose the activity being studied.
• Check for a third factor: A shared underlying trait may explain both sides of the correlation.
• Separate association from intervention: An observational pattern does not automatically show that prescribing the associated behavior will produce the outcome.

Examples in Adams' Work

• Marriage and happiness: Adams says happiness may make marriage more likely, challenging the claim that marriage itself creates happiness.
• Exercise and brain health: He suggests people with healthier brains may be more likely to exercise, reversing the commonly implied direction.
• Practice and ability: In response to a claim about Counter-Strike players, he argues that people who are naturally better at a game will tend to play it more because winning is rewarding.
• Dancing and productivity: He proposes that people able to dance may also be more capable in general, rather than treating dancing as the cause of workplace performance.
• Health and personal life: He asks whether poor health may make it harder to pursue relationships or other personal activity, instead of assuming social isolation causes the health outcome.

Representative Phrases

• “Backwards Science (tm)”
• “Backwards Science strikes again.”
• “As I often say, science is backwards.”
• “Backwards science?”

Relevant X Posts

• 2023-09-23: Marriage and happiness, with Adams explicitly reversing the proposed causal direction: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1705564464580534740
• 2023-12-27: “Backwards Science (tm)” in response to a post about Vitamin D observational studies and randomized trials: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1740018818037199307
• 2024-01-18: Dancing, general capability, and workplace productivity: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1747986496899186816
• 2024-02-26: “Backwards Science strikes again” in response to another quoted claim: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1762120112184975859
• 2024-02-29: A second marriage-and-happiness example: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1763194567086494105
• 2024-12-31: Relationships and sexual functioning: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1874083548266979450
• 2025-01-03: An urban-trees and education-outcomes claim: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1875169788378677569
• 2025-01-08: Exercise and healthier brains: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1876992167035416984
• 2025-02-19: Counter-Strike play and decision-making ability: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1892206480411017313
• 2025-09-07: Loneliness, physical pain, health, and the ability to pursue a personal life: x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1964668586410319873
• For ongoing usage, search Adams' account for “backwards science”.

Related Concepts

• All Data Is Fake
• Numbers Without Percentages
• Skepticism Toward Experts
• Framing First, Facts Second
• JAS (Just Ask Scott)

Source Note

This entry is based on ten directly linked Scott Adams X posts from September 2023 through September 2025. The posts verify his repeated use of “Backwards Science” and close variants; descriptions of the studies they quote are concise context rather than endorsements of Adams' causal interpretation.