The rewards of having a causal model that can answer counterfactual questions are immense. Finding out why a blunder occurred allows us to take the right corrective measures in the future. Finding out why a treatment worked on some people and not on others can lead to a new cure for a disease. Answering the question “What if things had been different?” allows us to learn from history and the experience of others, something that no other species appears to do. It is not surprising that the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus (460–370 BC) said, “I would rather discover one cause than be the
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