Spurious correlation #3,575 · View random
A linear line chart with years as the X-axis and two variables on the Y-axis. The first variable is Popularity of the first name Mai and the second variable is Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. The chart goes from 1975 to 2022, and the two variables track closely in value over that time.

A linear line chart with years as the X-axis and two variables on the Y-axis. The first variable is Popularity of the first name Mai and the second variable is Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. The chart goes from 1975 to 2022, and the two variables track closely in value over that time.

Download png, svg

AI explanation

As the popularity of the name Mai rose, so did the success of the 49ers. It seems that having more "Mai" power was a key factor in their victories. Perhaps the players were just big fans of the name and it inspired them to tackle each game with extra enthusiasm. It's like they say, "Mai, oh Mai, what a winning team!"

^{Show image generation prompt} Model: dalle-3
Prompt: [ Cute cartoon ] In a bustling stadium, fans clad in red and gold cheer loudly as they watch the San Francisco 49ers secure a thrilling victory on the football field during a crisp autumn afternoon. An array of colorful banners, showcasing the name "Mai" in bold lettering, waves enthusiastically in the stands, while excited fans chant the name, invigorating the players as they celebrate their momentous win on the field. The scene exudes a joyous atmosphere with cartoon-style fans and players rejoicing in the excitement of victory. The depiction should include only scenes, people, and objects, it should not include text or speech bubbles.

This image generation prompt was also generated by AI, using the following sequence:

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You select one of a few potential scene descriptors that seems to go along with the variables described. You respond only with the scene descriptions provided and say nothing else.
User prompt: Here are two variables: Popularity of the first name Mai and Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. Given these, which of the following image style descriptions seems most appropriate? Pick the one that seems to be related to one of the variables at hand. Please respond with only one of the following potential descriptions: A scene from Skyrim An image that looks like it is a scene from 'Star Wars' Art nouveau Cute cartoon Symbolism
ChatGPT: Cute cartoon

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You describe simple visual scenes that depict the two variables stated. You combine both variables into one scene.
User prompt: Please describe a visual scene that prominently depicts both Popularity of the first name Mai and Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers, in the following situation: Because the name "Mai" became more popular, it led to a rise in San Francisco 49ers' season wins. The increased frequency of the name "Mai" caused a surge in positive "Mai"ntenance at the stadium, boosting team morale. This positivity "Mai"nually improved the players' performance, leading to more victories. Additionally, the influx of "Mai"nstream popularity inspired the team to come up with game-winning strategies that were simply "Mai"velous. Ultimately, the name "Mai" contributed to the 49ers blossoming into a winning force, proving that sometimes, a little "Mai" goes a long way!. Keep the description simple.
ChatGPT: In a bustling stadium, fans clad in red and gold cheer loudly as they watch the San Francisco 49ers secure a thrilling victory on the football field during a crisp autumn afternoon. An array of colorful banners, displaying the name "Mai" in bold lettering, waves enthusiastically in the stands, while excited fans chant the name, invigorating the players as they celebrate their momentous win on the field.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You write and improve image generation prompts for DALLE-3. You maintain the same subjects, but enhance the visuals.
User prompt: Please respond with an image generation prompt that would be likely to create an interesting visual using DALLE-3, using the following style: [ Cute cartoon ] and depicting this scene: In a bustling stadium, fans clad in red and gold cheer loudly as they watch the San Francisco 49ers secure a thrilling victory on the football field during a crisp autumn afternoon. An array of colorful banners, displaying the name "Mai" in bold lettering, waves enthusiastically in the stands, while excited fans chant the name, invigorating the players as they celebrate their momentous win on the field. Keep the visual depiction simple. Do not include any words or speech bubbles.
ChatGPT: [ Cute cartoon ] In a bustling stadium, fans clad in red and gold cheer loudly as they watch the San Francisco 49ers secure a thrilling victory on the football field during a crisp autumn afternoon. An array of colorful banners, showcasing the name "Mai" in bold lettering, waves enthusiastically in the stands, while excited fans chant the name, invigorating the players as they celebrate their momentous win on the field. The scene exudes a joyous atmosphere with cartoon-style fans and players rejoicing in the excitement of victory.

*Variations in the User Prompts from chart to chart are just the result of random number generation in Python. I wrote a few arrays of various styles and methods to ask questions to change up the results. Every time this site writes an explanation or generates an image, the script picks from each at random.

I sequence the requests into multiple prompts because I find GPT 3.5 to perform much better with short, well-managed contexts. Thus, I track the context directly in Python and only ask ChatGPT targeted questions.
^{Show prompt for explanation} Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106 (fine-tuned)
System prompt: You provide humorous responses in the form of plausible sounding explanations for correlations. You assume the correlation is causative for the purpose of the explanation even if it is ridiculous. You do not chat with the user, you only reply with the causal connection explanation and nothing else.
User prompt: Please make up a funny explanation for how increases in Popularity of the first name Mai positively influenced Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. Include one good pun.

AI academic paper

(Because p < 0.01)

Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins

Journal of Sports Psychology and Social Dynamics

Jan 2024

Reminder: This paper is AI-generated. Not real!

^{Show prompt used to generate this paper} Quick note: This sequence is long and repetitive. That's how the prompt engineering works for this one. I manage the output in Python to format it into this PDF.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a dry but witty academic researcher. You speak in the passive voice, and your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal.You draft a literature review section of an academic research paper, that starts out dry for the first few sentences but then becomes hilarious and goofy.
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up a literature review section of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Popularity of the first name Mai and Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

Speak in the present tense for this section (the authors find...), as is common in academic research paper literature reviews. Name the sources in a format similar to this: In "Book," the authors find lorem and ipsum.

Make up the lorem and ipsum part, but make it sound related to the topic at hand.

Start by naming serious-sounding studies by authors like Smith, Doe, and Jones - but then quickly devolve. Name some real non-fiction books that would be related to the topic. Then name some real fiction books that sound like they could be related. Then name a few real TV shows that sound like they might be relevant to the topic that you watched as research.

Here is the title and abstract of the paper:
[[TITLE]]
Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins

[[ABSTRACT]]
This paper delves into the intriguing correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. Leveraging data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com, our research team conducted an in-depth analysis spanning the years 1975 to 2022. We unearthed a remarkable correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 and a p-value of less than 0.01, indicating a statistically significant connection.

To our surprise, the data illustrated a striking positive relationship between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories. It seems that, much like the team's playbook, the popularity of the name "Mai" has been strategically influencing the 49ers' performance. Perhaps this phenomenon lends new meaning to the notion of "Mai-nstream success" in the context of professional football.

Furthermore, our findings suggest that the association is not mere happenstance, as the statistical significance of the correlation cannot be disregarded. As the saying goes, "Mai" not have thought that a name could impact football wins, but the numbers don't lie. Our research sheds light on this peculiar connection and opens the door to further exploration of the intriguing influences on sports outcomes.

-------

And here is the introduction section that led to this literature review:
[[INTRODUCTION]]
The association between a person's name and their life outcomes has been a subject of perennial interest, often relegated to the realm of superstition or folklore. However, recent research has begun to unveil potential connections between individuals' names and various aspects of their lives. In a similar vein, the sports world has long been steeped in superstitions and unconventional beliefs, making it an intriguing area for exploring potential correlations.
The San Francisco 49ers, a storied franchise in the National Football League (NFL), have been a source of fascination for sports enthusiasts and researchers alike. The team's victories and defeats have been dissected and analyzed from myriad angles, yet the potential influence of something as seemingly inconsequential as the popularity of a first name has largely escaped scrutiny. This oversight presents a ripe opportunity for investigation, albeit one that may raise an eyebrow or two.
Though the notion of a name shaping sports outcomes might initially elicit a chuckle, our research takes a thoughtful, data-driven approach to unraveling this curious phenomenon. After all, it's quite the "Mai-stery" how a name could impact a team's success on the gridiron.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]

ChatGPT:
[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]

The potential influence of individual names on various life outcomes has garnered increasing attention in recent academic literature. In "Surname et al.," the authors link the popularity of first names to diverse facets of individuals' lives, including career choices, academic performance, and even romantic success. Similarly, "Smith and Johnson" investigate the impact of name popularity on professional sports, uncovering unexpected correlations between certain names and athletes' on-field achievements.

Dad Joke: What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.

In line with this emerging body of research, the present study addresses the intriguing relationship between the prevalence of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal victories of the San Francisco 49ers. Given the distinctive nature of this investigation, the literature review extends beyond the realm of traditional academic studies to consider a wider array of sources.

Turning to non-fiction works, "Freakonomics" offers a comprehensive exploration of unconventional, often overlooked factors that can influence various outcomes, providing an insightful foundation for examining the potential influence of a name on sports performance. In a similar vein, "Outliers" delves into the underpinnings of success, presenting compelling arguments for considering unorthodox variables that may contribute to exceptional achievements.

Dad Joke: Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two tired.

Additionally, a selection of fiction literature offers narratives that tangentially touch upon the theme of improbable connections and unforeseen influences. For instance, the novel "The Name of the Wind" weaves a tale of enigmatic forces shaping destinies, suggesting that seemingly trivial elements – such as a name – may hold unforeseen sway over significant events. In a different realm, "The Secret Life of Bees" traverses the unexpected pathways that lead to serendipitous encounters and fortuitous occurrences, mirroring the potential impact of the name "Mai" on the 49ers' victories.

Dad Joke: Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He will stop at nothing to avoid them.

As part of the research process, the authors engaged in an extensive review of relevant television programs that could provide insights into the intersection of names and sports outcomes. Notably, "The Twilight Zone" and "Stranger Things" delve into the realms of the uncanny and the inexplicable, offering allegorical perspectives on unanticipated connections and their potential ramifications. These themes serve as a lens through which to contemplate the unexpected correlation between the prevalence of the name "Mai" and the San Francisco 49ers' successes, prompting further inquiry into the mysterious forces at play in the realm of professional football.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a dry but witty academic researcher. You speak in the passive voice, and your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal.You draft the discussion section of an academic research paper.
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up the discussion section of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Popularity of the first name Mai and Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences. Stay serious and dry most of the time, but then occasionally let your wit shine through.

Limit your response to 500 tokens.

Here are the title, abstract, literature review, and results sections. Please harken back to 1-2 of the goofy items in the literature review, but pretend to take them completely seriously. Discuss how your results supported the prior research.

Do not write a conclusion. I will add a conclusion after this.

[[TITLE]]
Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins

[[ABSTRACT]]
This paper delves into the intriguing correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. Leveraging data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com, our research team conducted an in-depth analysis spanning the years 1975 to 2022. We unearthed a remarkable correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 and a p-value of less than 0.01, indicating a statistically significant connection.

To our surprise, the data illustrated a striking positive relationship between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories. It seems that, much like the team's playbook, the popularity of the name "Mai" has been strategically influencing the 49ers' performance. Perhaps this phenomenon lends new meaning to the notion of "Mai-nstream success" in the context of professional football.

Furthermore, our findings suggest that the association is not mere happenstance, as the statistical significance of the correlation cannot be disregarded. As the saying goes, "Mai" not have thought that a name could impact football wins, but the numbers don't lie. Our research sheds light on this peculiar connection and opens the door to further exploration of the intriguing influences on sports outcomes.

[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]
The potential influence of individual names on various life outcomes has garnered increasing attention in recent academic literature. In "Surname et al.," the authors link the popularity of first names to diverse facets of individuals' lives, including career choices, academic performance, and even romantic success. Similarly, "Smith and Johnson" investigate the impact of name popularity on professional sports, uncovering unexpected correlations between certain names and athletes' on-field achievements.
Dad Joke: What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.
In line with this emerging body of research, the present study addresses the intriguing relationship between the prevalence of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal victories of the San Francisco 49ers. Given the distinctive nature of this investigation, the literature review extends beyond the realm of traditional academic studies to consider a wider array of sources.
Turning to non-fiction works, "Freakonomics" offers a comprehensive exploration of unconventional, often overlooked factors that can influence various outcomes, providing an insightful foundation for examining the potential influence of a name on sports performance. In a similar vein, "Outliers" delves into the underpinnings of success, presenting compelling arguments for considering unorthodox variables that may contribute to exceptional achievements.
Dad Joke: Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two tired.
Additionally, a selection of fiction literature offers narratives that tangentially touch upon the theme of improbable connections and unforeseen influences. For instance, the novel "The Name of the Wind" weaves a tale of enigmatic forces shaping destinies, suggesting that seemingly trivial elements – such as a name – may hold unforeseen sway over significant events. In a different realm, "The Secret Life of Bees" traverses the unexpected pathways that lead to serendipitous encounters and fortuitous occurrences, mirroring the potential impact of the name "Mai" on the 49ers' victories.
Dad Joke: Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He will stop at nothing to avoid them.
As part of the research process, the authors engaged in an extensive review of relevant television programs that could provide insights into the intersection of names and sports outcomes. Notably, "The Twilight Zone" and "Stranger Things" delve into the realms of the uncanny and the inexplicable, offering allegorical perspectives on unanticipated connections and their potential ramifications. These themes serve as a lens through which to contemplate the unexpected correlation between the prevalence of the name "Mai" and the San Francisco 49ers' successes, prompting further inquiry into the mysterious forces at play in the realm of professional football.

[[RESULTS]]
The analysis of data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com revealed a notable correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. The correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 indicated a moderately strong positive relationship between these two variables. This finding suggests a potential influence of the name "Mai" on the 49ers' performance throughout the years.
The r-squared value of 0.3160837 further supported the assertion that the popularity of the name "Mai" may be associated with the team's success. This implies that approximately 31.6% of the variability in the 49ers' seasonal wins can be explained by the prevalence of the name "Mai." One might say that the influence of this name on the team's outcomes is "mai-nifestly" clear, at least statistically speaking.
With a p-value of less than 0.01, the statistical significance of the correlation underscores the robustness of the observed relationship. This suggests that the association between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories is not likely due to random chance. As the data would have it, there may be more to a name than meets the eye, especially when it comes to the gridiron.
In Figure 1, presented below, the scatterplot visually depicts the strong positive correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the San Francisco 49ers' seasonal wins. The upward trend in the plot unmistakably underscores the connection between these two variables, thus reinforcing the quantitative findings of the analysis.
Overall, our research provides compelling evidence of an intriguing relationship between the prevalence of the name "Mai" and the performance of the San Francisco 49ers. While the mechanism underlying this connection remains "Mai-sterious," our findings invite further exploration and contemplation of the curious influences that may impact sports outcomes. After all, when it comes to statistical significance, there's "Mai" way to ignore the data.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[DISCUSSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[DISCUSSION]]

The findings of the present study demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. This unexpected linkage supports prior research on the potential influence of names on various life outcomes and extends it to the realm of professional sports.

The moderately strong positive relationship between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories, as indicated by the correlation coefficient of 0.5622132, highlights the intriguing nature of this connection. This statistical evidence suggests that there may indeed be more to a name than conventionally presumed, particularly when evaluating athletic achievements. One might say that the influence of the name "Mai" on the 49ers' performance is not merely anecdotal – it's statistically "Mai"gnificent.

The substantial r-squared value of 0.3160837 reinforces the assertion that the popularity of the name "Mai" may play a discernible role in the team's successes. Approximately 31.6% of the variability in the 49ers' seasonal wins can be attributed to the prevalence of the name "Mai," offering a statistically compelling argument for the significance of this association. This means that for every "Mai" there is, there's potential for more than just "mai-rracle" on the field – there's a statistically verifiable impact on the team's performance.

Furthermore, the scatterplot reaffirms the robustness of the observed correlation, visually illustrating the undeniable relationship between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the 49ers' seasonal wins. One could say that this graph truly leaves no "Mai’stake" about the connection, paving the way for further exploration of the curious influence of names on sports outcomes.

It is important to note that while the data suggest a compelling association between the prevalence of the name "Mai" and the performance of the San Francisco 49ers, the causal mechanisms that underlie this connection remain shrouded in "Mai-steriousness." The findings warrant further investigation and contemplation, as the potential implications of this correlation may extend far beyond the realm of professional football.

In conclusion, our research sheds light on the unexpected but statistically significant relationship between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. Much like the unexpected punchline of a dad joke, this correlation adds a touch of whimsy to the intricate web of factors that may influence sports outcomes, underscoring the fascinating and multifaceted nature of statistical relationships. After all, when it comes to the impact of a name on football victories, one could say there's "Mai"sterious influence at play.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a dry but witty academic researcher. You speak in the passive voice, and your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal.You draft the discussion section of goofy academic research papers that sounds like it belongs based on the title and abstract provided.
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up a short conclusion of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Popularity of the first name Mai and Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences. Stay serious and dry most of the time, but then occasionally let your wit shine through.

Limit your response to 300 tokens. At the very end, assert that no more research is needed in this area.

Here are the title, abstract, introduction, and results sections.
[[TITLE]]
Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins

[[ABSTRACT]]
This paper delves into the intriguing correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. Leveraging data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com, our research team conducted an in-depth analysis spanning the years 1975 to 2022. We unearthed a remarkable correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 and a p-value of less than 0.01, indicating a statistically significant connection.

To our surprise, the data illustrated a striking positive relationship between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories. It seems that, much like the team's playbook, the popularity of the name "Mai" has been strategically influencing the 49ers' performance. Perhaps this phenomenon lends new meaning to the notion of "Mai-nstream success" in the context of professional football.

Furthermore, our findings suggest that the association is not mere happenstance, as the statistical significance of the correlation cannot be disregarded. As the saying goes, "Mai" not have thought that a name could impact football wins, but the numbers don't lie. Our research sheds light on this peculiar connection and opens the door to further exploration of the intriguing influences on sports outcomes.

[[INTRDUCTION]]
The association between a person's name and their life outcomes has been a subject of perennial interest, often relegated to the realm of superstition or folklore. However, recent research has begun to unveil potential connections between individuals' names and various aspects of their lives. In a similar vein, the sports world has long been steeped in superstitions and unconventional beliefs, making it an intriguing area for exploring potential correlations.
The San Francisco 49ers, a storied franchise in the National Football League (NFL), have been a source of fascination for sports enthusiasts and researchers alike. The team's victories and defeats have been dissected and analyzed from myriad angles, yet the potential influence of something as seemingly inconsequential as the popularity of a first name has largely escaped scrutiny. This oversight presents a ripe opportunity for investigation, albeit one that may raise an eyebrow or two.
Though the notion of a name shaping sports outcomes might initially elicit a chuckle, our research takes a thoughtful, data-driven approach to unraveling this curious phenomenon. After all, it's quite the "Mai-stery" how a name could impact a team's success on the gridiron.

[[RESULTS]]
The analysis of data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com revealed a notable correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. The correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 indicated a moderately strong positive relationship between these two variables. This finding suggests a potential influence of the name "Mai" on the 49ers' performance throughout the years.
The r-squared value of 0.3160837 further supported the assertion that the popularity of the name "Mai" may be associated with the team's success. This implies that approximately 31.6% of the variability in the 49ers' seasonal wins can be explained by the prevalence of the name "Mai." One might say that the influence of this name on the team's outcomes is "mai-nifestly" clear, at least statistically speaking.
With a p-value of less than 0.01, the statistical significance of the correlation underscores the robustness of the observed relationship. This suggests that the association between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories is not likely due to random chance. As the data would have it, there may be more to a name than meets the eye, especially when it comes to the gridiron.
In Figure 1, presented below, the scatterplot visually depicts the strong positive correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the San Francisco 49ers' seasonal wins. The upward trend in the plot unmistakably underscores the connection between these two variables, thus reinforcing the quantitative findings of the analysis.
Overall, our research provides compelling evidence of an intriguing relationship between the prevalence of the name "Mai" and the performance of the San Francisco 49ers. While the mechanism underlying this connection remains "Mai-sterious," our findings invite further exploration and contemplation of the curious influences that may impact sports outcomes. After all, when it comes to statistical significance, there's "Mai" way to ignore the data.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[CONCLUSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[CONCLUSION]]

In conclusion, our research has brought to light a compelling association between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. The correlation coefficient and r-squared value point to a statistically significant, moderately strong positive relationship, indicating that the name "Mai" may indeed exert an influence on the football team's performance, much like a subtle yet determined quarterback orchestrating a game-winning drive.

One cannot help but ponder the implications of our findings. Could it be that the mere utterance of "Mai" triggers a wave of good fortune for the 49ers, akin to a lucky charm tucked into the cleats of each player? Perhaps there is a secret playbook of names, each imbued with its own unique powers to sway the outcome of a game. Imagine the announcers calling the action: "And Mai takes the field, as the 49ers look to extend their winning streak!"

It is worth emphasizing the statistical significance of our results, which underscores the robustness and validity of our findings. This prompts a reevaluation of the factors that may contribute to sports success, reminding us that amidst the playbook strategies and athletic prowess, a seemingly innocuous element such as the prevalence of a specific name may quietly exert its influence on the outcome of a game.

As we reflect on the notable correlation between the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories, one cannot help but appreciate the delightful unpredictability of statistical exploration. It appears that, in the realm of sports as in life, there are "Mai"-sterious forces at play that elude simple explanation.

In light of these intriguing findings, it is safe to say that further research into the impact of individuals' names on sports outcomes is warranted. However, when it comes to the connection between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers, it seems that we have uncovered a statistical truth that is as clear as day. In other words, there's "Mai" need for additional investigation in this area.

Thank you for coming to my "Mai"-ted Talk.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide fictional names of academic journals. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide the name of a funny but plausible sounding research, scientific, or academic journal that would publish a paper entited Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins. Respond only with the name of a fictional academic journal.

ChatGPT:

Journal of Sports Psychology and Social Dynamics

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide fictional names of nonprofit research organizations and associations. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide the name of a funny but plausible sounding nonprofit, academic, or scientific association or organization that would sponsor research that resulted in a paper entited Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins. Respond only with the name of a fictional organization.

ChatGPT:

The Association for Socio-Cultural Sports Analysis (ASSA)

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide potential search keywords separated by commas. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide potential search keywords for a paper titled Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins with an abstract of This paper delves into the intriguing correlation between the popularity of the first name "Mai" and the seasonal wins of the San Francisco 49ers. Leveraging data from the US Social Security Administration and Pro-Football-Reference.com, our research team conducted an in-depth analysis spanning the years 1975 to 2022. We unearthed a remarkable correlation coefficient of 0.5622132 and a p-value of less than 0.01, indicating a statistically significant connection.
To our surprise, the data illustrated a striking positive relationship between the proliferation of the name "Mai" and the 49ers' victories. It seems that, much like the team's playbook, the popularity of the name "Mai" has been strategically influencing the 49ers' performance. Perhaps this phenomenon lends new meaning to the notion of "Mai-nstream success" in the context of professional football.
Furthermore, our findings suggest that the association is not mere happenstance, as the statistical significance of the correlation cannot be disregarded. As the saying goes, "Mai" not have thought that a name could impact football wins, but the numbers don't lie. Our research sheds light on this peculiar connection and opens the door to further exploration of the intriguing influences on sports outcomes.

ChatGPT:

Mai, San Francisco 49ers, first name popularity, correlation, seasonal wins, Social Security Administration data, Pro-Football-Reference.com, correlation coefficient, statistical significance, professional football, sports outcomes, influence, data analysis

*There is a bunch of Python happening behind the scenes to turn this prompt sequence into a PDF.

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Data details

Popularity of the first name Mai
Detailed data title: Babies of all sexes born in the US named Mai
Source: US Social Security Administration
See what else correlates with Popularity of the first name Mai

Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers
Detailed data title: Number of season wins by the San Francisco 49ers
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
See what else correlates with Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers

Correlation r = 0.5622132 (Pearson correlation coefficient)
Correlation is a measure of how much the variables move together. If it is 0.99, when one goes up the other goes up. If it is 0.02, the connection is very weak or non-existent. If it is -0.99, then when one goes up the other goes down. If it is 1.00, you probably messed up your correlation function.

r² = 0.3160837 (Coefficient of determination)
This means 31.6% of the change in the one variable (i.e., Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers) is predictable based on the change in the other (i.e., Popularity of the first name Mai) over the 48 years from 1975 through 2022.

p < 0.01, which is statistically significant(Null hypothesis significance test)
The p-value is 3.2E-5.^Show 0.0000320298285508722100000000
The p-value is a measure of how probable it is that we would randomly find a result this extreme.^Note More specifically the p-value is a measure of how probable it is that we would randomly find a result this extreme if we had only tested one pair of variables one time.

But I am a p-villain. I absolutely did not test only one pair of variables one time. I correlated hundreds of millions of pairs of variables. I threw boatloads of data into an industrial-sized blender to find this correlation.

Who is going to stop me? p-value reporting doesn't require me to report how many calculations I had to go through in order to find a low p-value!
On average, you will find a correaltion as strong as 0.56 in 0.0032% of random cases. Said differently, if you correlated 31,221 random variables^Note You don't actually need 31 thousand variables to find a correlation like this one. You can also correlate variables that are not independent. I do this a lot.

p-value calculations are useful for understanding the probability of a result happening by chance. They are most useful when used to highlight the risk of a fluke outcome. For example, if you calculate a p-value of 0.30, the risk that the result is a fluke is high. It is good to know that! But there are lots of ways to get a p-value of less than 0.01, as evidenced by this project.

Just to be clear: I'm being completely transparent about the calculations. There is no math trickery. This is just how statistics shakes out when you calculate hundreds of millions of random correlations.
with the same 47 degrees of freedom, ^Note Degrees of freedom is a measure of how many free components we are testing. In this case it is 47 because we have two variables measured over a period of 48 years. It's just the number of years minus ( the number of variables minus one ), which in this case simplifies to the number of years minus one.
you would randomly expect to find a correlation as strong as this one.

[ 0.33, 0.73 ] 95% correlation confidence interval (using the Fisher z-transformation)
^{Read more about the confidence interval} The confidence interval is an estimate the range of the value of the correlation coefficient, using the correlation itself as an input. The values are meant to be the low and high end of the correlation coefficient with 95% confidence.

This one is a bit more complciated than the other calculations, but I include it because many people have been pushing for confidence intervals instead of p-value calculations (for example: NEJM. However, if you are dredging data, you can reliably find yourself in the 5%. That's my goal!

All values for the years included above: ^Note If I were being very sneaky, I could trim years from the beginning or end of the datasets to increase the correlation on some pairs of variables. I don't do that because there are already plenty of correlations in my database without monkeying with the years.

Still, sometimes one of the variables has more years of data available than the other. This page only shows the overlapping years. To see all the years, click on "See what else correlates with..." link above.

	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Popularity of the first name Mai (Babies born)	24	32	24	31	49	71	138	134	148	184	181	166	154	184	245	254	221	201	202	213	165	132	95	89	84	71	74	63	81	74	84	75	69	79	76	58	61	55	55	55	46	49	34	53	50	48	58	55
Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers (49ers wins)	5	8	5	2	2	6	13	3	10	15	10	10	13	10	14	14	10	14	10	13	11	12	13	12	4	6	12	10	7	2	4	7	5	7	8	6	13	11	12	8	5	2	6	4	13	6	10	13

Why this works

Data dredging: I have 25,153 variables in my database. I compare all these variables against each other to find ones that randomly match up. That's 632,673,409 correlation calculations! This is called “data dredging.” Instead of starting with a hypothesis and testing it, I instead abused the data to see what correlations shake out. It’s a dangerous way to go about analysis, because any sufficiently large dataset will yield strong correlations completely at random.
Lack of causal connection: There is probably^Note Because these pages are automatically generated, it's possible that the two variables you are viewing are in fact causually related. I take steps to prevent the obvious ones from showing on the site (I don't let data about the weather in one city correlate with the weather in a neighboring city, for example), but sometimes they still pop up. If they are related, cool! You found a loophole.
no direct connection between these variables, despite what the AI says above. This is exacerbated by the fact that I used "Years" as the base variable. Lots of things happen in a year that are not related to each other! Most studies would use something like "one person" in stead of "one year" to be the "thing" studied.
Observations not independent: For many variables, sequential years are not independent of each other. If a population of people is continuously doing something every day, there is no reason to think they would suddenly change how they are doing that thing on January 1. A simple^Note Personally I don't find any p-value calculation to be 'simple,' but you know what I mean.
p-value calculation does not take this into account, so mathematically it appears less probable than it really is.

Try it yourself

You can calculate the values on this page on your own! Try running the Python code to see the calculation results. ^{Show the steps to do this.} Step 1: Download and install Python on your computer.

Step 2: Open a plaintext editor like Notepad and paste the code below into it.

Step 3: Save the file as "calculate_correlation.py" in a place you will remember, like your desktop. Copy the file location to your clipboard. On Windows, you can right-click the file and click "Properties," and then copy what comes after "Location:" As an example, on my computer the location is "C:\Users\tyler\Desktop"

Step 4: Open a command line window. For example, by pressing start and typing "cmd" and them pressing enter.

Step 5: Install the required modules by typing "pip install numpy", then pressing enter, then typing "pip install scipy", then pressing enter.

Step 6: Navigate to the location where you saved the Python file by using the "cd" command. For example, I would type "cd C:\Users\tyler\Desktop" and push enter.

Step 7: Run the Python script by typing "python calculate_correlation.py"

If you run into any issues, I suggest asking ChatGPT to walk you through installing Python and running the code below on your system. Try this question:

"Walk me through installing Python on my computer to run a script that uses scipy and numpy. Go step-by-step and ask me to confirm before moving on. Start by asking me questions about my operating system so that you know how to proceed. Assume I want the simplest installation with the latest version of Python and that I do not currently have any of the necessary elements installed. Remember to only give me one step per response and confirm I have done it before proceeding."

# These modules make it easier to perform the calculation
import numpy as np
from scipy import stats

# We'll define a function that we can call to return the correlation calculations
def calculate_correlation(array1, array2):

    # Calculate Pearson correlation coefficient and p-value
    correlation, p_value = stats.pearsonr(array1, array2)

    # Calculate R-squared as the square of the correlation coefficient
    r_squared = correlation**2

    return correlation, r_squared, p_value

# These are the arrays for the variables shown on this page, but you can modify them to be any two sets of numbers
array_1 = np.array([24,32,24,31,49,71,138,134,148,184,181,166,154,184,245,254,221,201,202,213,165,132,95,89,84,71,74,63,81,74,84,75,69,79,76,58,61,55,55,55,46,49,34,53,50,48,58,55,])
array_2 = np.array([5,8,5,2,2,6,13,3,10,15,10,10,13,10,14,14,10,14,10,13,11,12,13,12,4,6,12,10,7,2,4,7,5,7,8,6,13,11,12,8,5,2,6,4,13,6,10,13,])
array_1_name = "Popularity of the first name Mai"
array_2_name = "Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers"

# Perform the calculation
print(f"Calculating the correlation between {array_1_name} and {array_2_name}...")
correlation, r_squared, p_value = calculate_correlation(array_1, array_2)

# Print the results
print("Correlation Coefficient:", correlation)
print("R-squared:", r_squared)
print("P-value:", p_value)

Reuseable content

You may re-use the images on this page for any purpose, even commercial purposes, without asking for permission. The only requirement is that you attribute Tyler Vigen. ^Note Attribution can take many different forms. If you leave the "tylervigen.com" link in the image, that satisfies it just fine. If you remove it and move it to a footnote, that's fine too. You can also just write "Charts courtesy of Tyler Vigen" at the bottom of an article.

You do not need to attribute "the spurious correlations website," and you don't even need to link here if you don't want to. I don't gain anything from pageviews. There are no ads on this site, there is nothing for sale, and I am not for hire.

For the record, I am just one person. Tyler Vigen, he/him/his. I do have degrees, but they should not go after my name unless you want to annoy my wife. If that is your goal, then go ahead and cite me as "Tyler Vigen, A.A. A.A.S. B.A. J.D." Otherwise it is just "Tyler Vigen."

When spoken, my last name is pronounced "vegan," like I don't eat meat.

Full license details.
For more on re-use permissions, or to get a signed release form, see tylervigen.com/permission.

Download images for these variables:

High resolution line chart ^Note The image linked here is a Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG). It is the highest resolution that is possible to achieve. It scales up beyond the size of the observable universe without pixelating. You do not need to email me asking if I have a higher resolution image. I do not. The physical limitations of our universe prevent me from providing you with an image that is any higher resolution than this one.

If you insert it into a PowerPoint presentation (a tool well-known for managing things that are the scale of the universe), you can right-click > "Ungroup" or "Create Shape" and then edit the lines and text directly. You can also change the colors this way.

Alternatively you can use a tool like Inkscape.
High resolution line chart, optimized for mobile
Alternative high resolution line chart
Scatterplot
Portable line chart (png)
Portable line chart (png), optimized for mobile
Line chart for only Popularity of the first name Mai
Line chart for only Season wins for the San Francisco 49ers
AI-generated correlation image
The spurious research paper: Mai Name and 49ers Game: How Mai's Popularity Impacts San Francisco's Wins

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Correlation ID: 3575 · Black Variable ID: 4219 · Red Variable ID: 19674


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