People can have differing-and sometimes baffling-ideas of cause and effect. It's a human thing. But it can also be a troubling thing, leading to personal or societal problems large and small. Sociologist Greg Smithsimon has made a career out of studying the processes that often lead to such misunderstandings. And in Cause, he offers case studies (some hilarious, some tragic) and a fascinating idea about how we can understand causal relationships far better than we do-and maybe solve a few of our most formidable shared problems along the way.