Spurious correlation #5,535 · View random
A linear line chart with years as the X-axis and two variables on the Y-axis. The first variable is Air quality in Truckee, California and the second variable is The number of urban planners in California. The chart goes from 2003 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 Air quality in Truckee, California and the second variable is The number of urban planners in California. The chart goes from 2003 to 2022, and the two variables track closely in value over that time.

Download png, svg

AI explanation

As the air quality in Truckee improved, it inspired a wave of fresh thinking in urban planning across California. The crisp mountain air must have sparked a sense of clarity and vision for designing sustainable and livable cities. It's like the smog lifted not just from the skies, but from the minds of Californian urban planners, leading to a breath of new ideas. It's a classic case of ‘air’-odynamic inspiration!

^{Show image generation prompt} Model: dalle-3
Prompt: "A TIME magazine cover image" style prompt: Generate an image of a group of urban planners gathered around a table in a bright, modern meeting room. The planners are engaged in a lively discussion, surrounded by sketches and blueprints of green spaces, bike lanes, and pedestrian-friendly streets. The room itself is filled with natural light, and through the window, the skyline of an eco-friendly city can be seen, with clear, blue skies and sustainable architecture. The image conveys a sense of innovation and inspiration sparked by the improved air quality in Truckee, California. 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: Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California. 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 TIME magazine cover image a meme Minimalism Cyberpunk Steampunk
ChatGPT: A TIME magazine cover image

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 Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California, in the following situation: As the air quality in Truckee improved, it inspired a wave of fresh thinking in urban planning across California. The crisp mountain air must have sparked a sense of clarity and vision for designing sustainable and livable cities. It's like the smog lifted not just from the skies, but from the minds of Californian urban planners, leading to a breath of new ideas. It's a classic case of ‘air’-odynamic inspiration!. Keep the description simple.
ChatGPT: In Truckee, California, the air quality has significantly improved, and the clear, fresh mountain air seems to have sparked a new wave of creativity among urban planners across the state. A group of urban planners is shown gathered around a table discussing sustainable city designs, with sketches of green spaces, bike lanes, and pedestrian-friendly streets. The skyline behind them is filled with clean, clear skies, symbolizing the newfound inspiration and innovative ideas brought about by the improved air quality.

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: [ A TIME magazine cover image ] and depicting this scene: In Truckee, California, the air quality has significantly improved, and the clear, fresh mountain air seems to have sparked a new wave of creativity among urban planners across the state. A group of urban planners is shown gathered around a table discussing sustainable city designs, with sketches of green spaces, bike lanes, and pedestrian-friendly streets. The skyline behind them is filled with clean, clear skies, symbolizing the newfound inspiration and innovative ideas brought about by the improved air quality. Keep the visual depiction simple. Do not include any words or speech bubbles.
ChatGPT: "A TIME magazine cover image" style prompt: Generate an image of a group of urban planners gathered around a table in a bright, modern meeting room. The planners are engaged in a lively discussion, surrounded by sketches and blueprints of green spaces, bike lanes, and pedestrian-friendly streets. The room itself is filled with natural light, and through the window, the skyline of an eco-friendly city can be seen, with clear, blue skies and sustainable architecture. The image conveys a sense of innovation and inspiration sparked by the improved air quality in Truckee, California.

*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 an increase in Air quality in Truckee, California caused The number of urban planners in California to increase. Include one good pun.

AI academic paper

(Because p < 0.01)

Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

The Journal of Quirky Urban Ecology

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 goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.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 Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California. 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]]
Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

[[ABSTRACT]]
In this scholarly yet slightly silly study, we delved into the delicate dance between air quality in Truckee, California, and the abundance of urban planners across the Golden State. With tongue-in-cheek determination, we sought to unravel this relationship and unearth any unexpected connections, much like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of statistical haystacks.

Harnessing data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our research team diligently scrutinized the levels of air pollutants in the serene town of Truckee and the corresponding numbers of urban planners buzzing about California's bustling cities. Our findings revealed a rather surprising correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 and p < 0.01 for the period spanning 2003 to 2022, akin to discovering a rare Pokemon card hidden in a stack of dull spreadsheets.

Our results beckon us to ponder: does the crisp mountain air of Truckee whisper sweet urban planning dreams to California's aspiring cityscape architects? Or do the bustling streets of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco release airborne muses that nudge individuals towards careers in urban design? This paper not only unearths statistical patterns but also tickles the funny bone, underscoring the whimsical intersections of serious research and the lighthearted nature of human connection.

-------

And here is the introduction section that led to this literature review:
[[INTRODUCTION]]
Ah, urban planning and air quality - two things that don't seem to have much in common at first glance. It's like pairing peanut butter with pickles - an unexpected combination that might just surprise you. With that in mind, let's dive into the peculiar pairing of Truckee's air quality and the hoards of urban planners in California, a relationship more intriguing than a mystery novel set in a library.
As we embark on this scholarly escapade, it's important to recognize the ongoing importance of maintaining high air quality in our communities. After all, clean air is nothing to sneeze at. It's like the unsung superhero of public health, quietly saving the day one breath at a time.
Now, Truckee, nestled snugly in the Sierra Nevada mountains, boasts some of the freshest air around. It's the kind of place where you can take a deep breath and almost taste the serenity. It's arguably so pure that it makes you wonder if the very air itself holds the secrets to a successful career in urban planning. Perhaps the whispering winds of Truckee carry aspirations on their gentle gusts, inspiring young minds to turn their attention to the intricacies of cityscapes and zoning ordinances.
Now, urban planners - those unsung heroes of infrastructure and community design. They hold the blueprints to our cities' futures, quite literally. It's not every day you meet someone who can say they have the power to shape skylines and traffic patterns with the wave of a zoning map.
So, what happens when we blend the crisp mountain air of Truckee with the teeming throngs of California's urban planners? It's like mixing mountain air with city dreams - a recipe for unexpected synergy or perhaps a potent concoction of statistical coincidences. But fear not, dear reader, for we are here to unravel this curious conundrum with the tenacity of a detective solving a case of misplaced zoning laws.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]

ChatGPT:
[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]

In "Smith et al.'s Airborne Alchemy: The Interplay Between Truckee's Air Quality and California's Urban Planning Landscape," the authors find a compelling correlation between the ambient air quality in Truckee, California, and the influx of urban planners in various regions of the state. This study sheds light on the potential influence of environmental factors on career choices and urban development pursuits, providing a nuanced perspective on the interconnectedness of atmospheric conditions and professional inclinations.

Dad Joke #1: Why did the urban planner break up with the environmentalist? They couldn't agree on whether love was a sustainable development.

Similarly, Doe's "Breath of Fresh Careers: Analyzing Truckee's Air Quality and Its Impact on Urban Planning Professionals" presents an in-depth analysis of air pollutant levels in Truckee juxtaposed with the distribution of urban planning professionals across California. The findings underscore the intricate relationship between environmental settings and vocational preferences, fueling contemplation on the role of natural surroundings in shaping occupational trajectories.

Moving beyond scholarly articles, "Air Quality and Urban Planning: A Practical Guide" by Jones furnishes practical insights into the intersection of air quality management and urban planning strategies. While this resource veers on the practical side, its relevance to our research cannot be denied, much like how fresh mountain air cannot be overemphasized in its impact on one's well-being and career choices.

Nonetheless, our quest for pertinent literature led us to some unexpected avenues. For instance, "The Airbender's Manifesto" and "Zen and the Art of Urban Planning" may not have been rigorous academic treatises, but their titles alone evoked thoughts of the ethereal connection between air and urban planning, albeit in fictional settings.

Dad Joke #2: Why do urban planners make terrible criminals? They can never escape the zoning laws.

In our pursuit of understanding the dynamics between air quality and urban planning, we also turned to popular culture for insights. Shows like "Parks and Recreation" and "The City Beautiful" served as sources of, albeit comedic, inspiration, prompting musings on the delightful (albeit dramatized) narratives of urban planning and the whimsical encounters with fresh air that the characters often experienced.

In our literature review journey, we oscillated between scholarly chronicles and whimsical wanderings, unveiling a tapestry of perspectives that mirror the vibrant nuances of our research topic. Like a well-crafted urban plan, our literary exploration spanned the realms of seriousness and levity, encapsulating the complexities of our investigation with a hint of scholarly mischievousness.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.You draft the methodology 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 methodology section of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

Your research team collected data from all across the internet, but mostly just used information from Environmental Protection Agency and Bureau of Larbor Statistics . You used data from 2003 to 2022

Make up the research methods you don't know. Make them a bit goofy and convoluted.

Here is the title, abstract, and introduction of the paper:
[[TITLE]]
Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

[[ABSTRACT]]
In this scholarly yet slightly silly study, we delved into the delicate dance between air quality in Truckee, California, and the abundance of urban planners across the Golden State. With tongue-in-cheek determination, we sought to unravel this relationship and unearth any unexpected connections, much like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of statistical haystacks.

Harnessing data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our research team diligently scrutinized the levels of air pollutants in the serene town of Truckee and the corresponding numbers of urban planners buzzing about California's bustling cities. Our findings revealed a rather surprising correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 and p < 0.01 for the period spanning 2003 to 2022, akin to discovering a rare Pokemon card hidden in a stack of dull spreadsheets.

Our results beckon us to ponder: does the crisp mountain air of Truckee whisper sweet urban planning dreams to California's aspiring cityscape architects? Or do the bustling streets of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco release airborne muses that nudge individuals towards careers in urban design? This paper not only unearths statistical patterns but also tickles the funny bone, underscoring the whimsical intersections of serious research and the lighthearted nature of human connection.

[[INTRODUCTION]]
Ah, urban planning and air quality - two things that don't seem to have much in common at first glance. It's like pairing peanut butter with pickles - an unexpected combination that might just surprise you. With that in mind, let's dive into the peculiar pairing of Truckee's air quality and the hoards of urban planners in California, a relationship more intriguing than a mystery novel set in a library.
As we embark on this scholarly escapade, it's important to recognize the ongoing importance of maintaining high air quality in our communities. After all, clean air is nothing to sneeze at. It's like the unsung superhero of public health, quietly saving the day one breath at a time.
Now, Truckee, nestled snugly in the Sierra Nevada mountains, boasts some of the freshest air around. It's the kind of place where you can take a deep breath and almost taste the serenity. It's arguably so pure that it makes you wonder if the very air itself holds the secrets to a successful career in urban planning. Perhaps the whispering winds of Truckee carry aspirations on their gentle gusts, inspiring young minds to turn their attention to the intricacies of cityscapes and zoning ordinances.
Now, urban planners - those unsung heroes of infrastructure and community design. They hold the blueprints to our cities' futures, quite literally. It's not every day you meet someone who can say they have the power to shape skylines and traffic patterns with the wave of a zoning map.
So, what happens when we blend the crisp mountain air of Truckee with the teeming throngs of California's urban planners? It's like mixing mountain air with city dreams - a recipe for unexpected synergy or perhaps a potent concoction of statistical coincidences. But fear not, dear reader, for we are here to unravel this curious conundrum with the tenacity of a detective solving a case of misplaced zoning laws.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[METHODOLOGY]]

ChatGPT:

[[METHODOLOGY]]

To uncover the mysterious link between Truckee's air quality and the abundance of urban planners in California, we employed a concoction of data-driven methods and a sprinkle of statistical magic. It's as if we were making a research souffle: equal parts precision, a dash of whimsy, and just a pinch of absurdity.

First, we gathered air quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) like a diligent squirrel gathering nuts for winter. We scrutinized levels of pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide - essentially creating a veritable bouquet of airborne contaminants. We then ensured that our data was as pristine as Truckee's air, taking into account factors such as monitoring location, time of measurement, and any potential confounding variables that might cloud our findings like, well, a foggy day in San Francisco.

Simultaneously, we obtained data on the number of urban planners in California from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We pored over employment figures and industry trends like a group of excited treasure hunters uncovering long-lost artifacts. These figures allowed us to gauge the ebb and flow of urban planners across California's diverse landscape over the years, akin to charting the migratory patterns of a particularly industrious flock of birds.

Having amassed this data, we then engaged in a dance of statistical analysis that would make even the most nimble mathematician envious. Our tools included correlation analysis, regression modeling, and other statistical jiggery-pokery to determine the strength and direction of the relationship between air quality in Truckee and the number of urban planners in California. It was like solving a Rubik's Cube blindfolded, with each twist and turn revealing a new facet of our research puzzle.

Further, we considered the impact of potential confounding variables, such as population growth, economic trends, and the occasional wild card - because every statistical endeavor needs a bit of unpredictability, much like a game of chance at a research casino.

In sum, our methodology was a careful blend of meticulous data gathering, robust statistical analysis, and a hint of audacious exploration, much like a daring culinary experiment that yielded unexpectedly delicious results. And speaking of unexpected results, what do you call a statistically inclined horse? A mane-stream estimator!

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.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 Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

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]]
Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

[[ABSTRACT]]
In this scholarly yet slightly silly study, we delved into the delicate dance between air quality in Truckee, California, and the abundance of urban planners across the Golden State. With tongue-in-cheek determination, we sought to unravel this relationship and unearth any unexpected connections, much like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of statistical haystacks.

Harnessing data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our research team diligently scrutinized the levels of air pollutants in the serene town of Truckee and the corresponding numbers of urban planners buzzing about California's bustling cities. Our findings revealed a rather surprising correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 and p < 0.01 for the period spanning 2003 to 2022, akin to discovering a rare Pokemon card hidden in a stack of dull spreadsheets.

Our results beckon us to ponder: does the crisp mountain air of Truckee whisper sweet urban planning dreams to California's aspiring cityscape architects? Or do the bustling streets of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco release airborne muses that nudge individuals towards careers in urban design? This paper not only unearths statistical patterns but also tickles the funny bone, underscoring the whimsical intersections of serious research and the lighthearted nature of human connection.

[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]
In "Smith et al.'s Airborne Alchemy: The Interplay Between Truckee's Air Quality and California's Urban Planning Landscape," the authors find a compelling correlation between the ambient air quality in Truckee, California, and the influx of urban planners in various regions of the state. This study sheds light on the potential influence of environmental factors on career choices and urban development pursuits, providing a nuanced perspective on the interconnectedness of atmospheric conditions and professional inclinations.
Dad Joke #1: Why did the urban planner break up with the environmentalist? They couldn't agree on whether love was a sustainable development.
Similarly, Doe's "Breath of Fresh Careers: Analyzing Truckee's Air Quality and Its Impact on Urban Planning Professionals" presents an in-depth analysis of air pollutant levels in Truckee juxtaposed with the distribution of urban planning professionals across California. The findings underscore the intricate relationship between environmental settings and vocational preferences, fueling contemplation on the role of natural surroundings in shaping occupational trajectories.
Moving beyond scholarly articles, "Air Quality and Urban Planning: A Practical Guide" by Jones furnishes practical insights into the intersection of air quality management and urban planning strategies. While this resource veers on the practical side, its relevance to our research cannot be denied, much like how fresh mountain air cannot be overemphasized in its impact on one's well-being and career choices.
Nonetheless, our quest for pertinent literature led us to some unexpected avenues. For instance, "The Airbender's Manifesto" and "Zen and the Art of Urban Planning" may not have been rigorous academic treatises, but their titles alone evoked thoughts of the ethereal connection between air and urban planning, albeit in fictional settings.
Dad Joke #2: Why do urban planners make terrible criminals? They can never escape the zoning laws.
In our pursuit of understanding the dynamics between air quality and urban planning, we also turned to popular culture for insights. Shows like "Parks and Recreation" and "The City Beautiful" served as sources of, albeit comedic, inspiration, prompting musings on the delightful (albeit dramatized) narratives of urban planning and the whimsical encounters with fresh air that the characters often experienced.
In our literature review journey, we oscillated between scholarly chronicles and whimsical wanderings, unveiling a tapestry of perspectives that mirror the vibrant nuances of our research topic. Like a well-crafted urban plan, our literary exploration spanned the realms of seriousness and levity, encapsulating the complexities of our investigation with a hint of scholarly mischievousness.

[[RESULTS]]
Our research endeavor uncovered a noteworthy correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 between air quality in Truckee, California and the number of urban planners in California from 2003 to 2022. This strong correlation tickled our statistical fancies, much like finding a perfectly ripe avocado at the grocery store - a rare and delightful occurrence indeed.
The coefficient of determination (r-squared) of 0.6997447 indicated that a substantial portion of the variance in the number of urban planners could be explained by variations in air quality. It’s like discovering that a significant percentage of the taste in a dish comes from that pinch of salt the recipe calls for - a small ingredient with a big impact.
The p-value of less than 0.01 further bolstered our findings, indicating a high level of statistical significance. This result was about as rare as finding a parking spot right in front of the grocery store on a busy weekend - a stroke of luck that defies the odds.
The scatterplot (Fig. 1), which we will unveil shortly, illustrates the robust positive relationship between air quality in Truckee and the number of urban planners in California. It’s like a beautiful dance between two seemingly unrelated factors, akin to seeing an elephant gracefully pirouette with a ballerina - unexpected, yet undeniably captivating.
Our findings not only shed light on an intriguing correlation but also prompted us to contemplate the whimsical interplay between environmental factors and human career choices. It's a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected connections can emerge from the unlikeliest of pairings, much like stumbling upon a joke in the footnotes of a research paper.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[DISCUSSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[DISCUSSION]]

Our study unraveled a compelling correlation between air quality in Truckee, California and the number of urban planners in California, lending credence to prior research that also teased out this unexpected connection. Like a well-orchestrated comedic act, our findings delivered the punchline to the setup laid out in previous literature.

The robust correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 echoes the sentiments of Smith et al. and Doe, reinforcing the notion that air quality exerts an intriguing influence on the spatial distribution of urban planners. Once thought to be as peculiar as finding a traffic jam on a deserted road, this relationship has now emerged as a significant factor in the interplay of environmental conditions and vocational pursuits.

Our analysis further underscores the relevance of natural surroundings in shaping occupational choices, akin to how a breath of fresh air can invigorate weary souls—an influence not to be trifled with, much like the impact of a well-timed dad joke. The coefficient of determination (r-squared) of 0.6997447 aligns with the prior research, accentuating the substantial role of air quality in dictating the variance in the number of urban planners. This result carries a weighty revelation, akin to realizing that a dash of chili powder can define the flavor profile of a dish—seemingly small, yet undeniably influential.

The p-value of less than 0.01 acts as the encore that solidifies our findings, much like an unexpected punchline that elevates a joke from chuckle-worthy to side-splittingly hilarious. With statistical significance as rare as finding a penny on the sidewalk nowadays, our results demand attention and uphold the whimsical notion that the most seemingly disparate elements can converge in surprising ways, like a fusion of urban planning and pristine mountain air.

As we unravel the playful yet profound interplay between air quality in Truckee and the bustling community of urban planners in California, our study not only enriches the scholarly conversation but also emphasizes the delightful surprises that await in the realm of serious research. It's a testament to the unexpected charm of statistical analysis, like finding a clown in a corporate boardroom—starkly out of place yet undeniably entertaining.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of our scatterplot (Fig. 1), a visual depiction that encapsulates the elegance of this correlation. It’s like witnessing an improbable yet enthralling dance between two seemingly unrelated partners, akin to a giraffe attempting a tango with a flamingo—unpredictable, yet undeniably captivating.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.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 Air quality in Truckee, California and The number of urban planners in California. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

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]]
Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

[[ABSTRACT]]
In this scholarly yet slightly silly study, we delved into the delicate dance between air quality in Truckee, California, and the abundance of urban planners across the Golden State. With tongue-in-cheek determination, we sought to unravel this relationship and unearth any unexpected connections, much like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of statistical haystacks.

Harnessing data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our research team diligently scrutinized the levels of air pollutants in the serene town of Truckee and the corresponding numbers of urban planners buzzing about California's bustling cities. Our findings revealed a rather surprising correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 and p < 0.01 for the period spanning 2003 to 2022, akin to discovering a rare Pokemon card hidden in a stack of dull spreadsheets.

Our results beckon us to ponder: does the crisp mountain air of Truckee whisper sweet urban planning dreams to California's aspiring cityscape architects? Or do the bustling streets of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco release airborne muses that nudge individuals towards careers in urban design? This paper not only unearths statistical patterns but also tickles the funny bone, underscoring the whimsical intersections of serious research and the lighthearted nature of human connection.

[[INTRDUCTION]]
Ah, urban planning and air quality - two things that don't seem to have much in common at first glance. It's like pairing peanut butter with pickles - an unexpected combination that might just surprise you. With that in mind, let's dive into the peculiar pairing of Truckee's air quality and the hoards of urban planners in California, a relationship more intriguing than a mystery novel set in a library.
As we embark on this scholarly escapade, it's important to recognize the ongoing importance of maintaining high air quality in our communities. After all, clean air is nothing to sneeze at. It's like the unsung superhero of public health, quietly saving the day one breath at a time.
Now, Truckee, nestled snugly in the Sierra Nevada mountains, boasts some of the freshest air around. It's the kind of place where you can take a deep breath and almost taste the serenity. It's arguably so pure that it makes you wonder if the very air itself holds the secrets to a successful career in urban planning. Perhaps the whispering winds of Truckee carry aspirations on their gentle gusts, inspiring young minds to turn their attention to the intricacies of cityscapes and zoning ordinances.
Now, urban planners - those unsung heroes of infrastructure and community design. They hold the blueprints to our cities' futures, quite literally. It's not every day you meet someone who can say they have the power to shape skylines and traffic patterns with the wave of a zoning map.
So, what happens when we blend the crisp mountain air of Truckee with the teeming throngs of California's urban planners? It's like mixing mountain air with city dreams - a recipe for unexpected synergy or perhaps a potent concoction of statistical coincidences. But fear not, dear reader, for we are here to unravel this curious conundrum with the tenacity of a detective solving a case of misplaced zoning laws.

[[RESULTS]]
Our research endeavor uncovered a noteworthy correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 between air quality in Truckee, California and the number of urban planners in California from 2003 to 2022. This strong correlation tickled our statistical fancies, much like finding a perfectly ripe avocado at the grocery store - a rare and delightful occurrence indeed.
The coefficient of determination (r-squared) of 0.6997447 indicated that a substantial portion of the variance in the number of urban planners could be explained by variations in air quality. It’s like discovering that a significant percentage of the taste in a dish comes from that pinch of salt the recipe calls for - a small ingredient with a big impact.
The p-value of less than 0.01 further bolstered our findings, indicating a high level of statistical significance. This result was about as rare as finding a parking spot right in front of the grocery store on a busy weekend - a stroke of luck that defies the odds.
The scatterplot (Fig. 1), which we will unveil shortly, illustrates the robust positive relationship between air quality in Truckee and the number of urban planners in California. It’s like a beautiful dance between two seemingly unrelated factors, akin to seeing an elephant gracefully pirouette with a ballerina - unexpected, yet undeniably captivating.
Our findings not only shed light on an intriguing correlation but also prompted us to contemplate the whimsical interplay between environmental factors and human career choices. It's a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected connections can emerge from the unlikeliest of pairings, much like stumbling upon a joke in the footnotes of a research paper.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[CONCLUSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[CONCLUSION]]

In conclusion, our research has shed light on the delightful dance between the crisp mountain air of Truckee and the bustling hordes of urban planners shaping California's cityscapes. The strong correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 between air quality and the number of urban planners has given us statistical butterflies in our stomachs, like finding out the punchline to a well-crafted dad joke.

The substantial coefficient of determination of 0.6997447 reinforces the notion that variations in air quality explain a significant portion of the variance in the number of urban planners, much like how a pinch of salt can explain the extra oomph in a dish – it's all in the details, folks.

Furthermore, the p-value of less than 0.01 adds an exclamation point to our findings, much like stumbling upon a ridiculously good deal at a garage sale – statistically significant and satisfying to boot.

Our results have illuminated the quirky interplay between environmental factors and human career aspirations, prompting us to ponder the whimsical ways in which personal and professional choices are influenced. It's like discovering a hidden gem in the rough, or in this case, uncovering a surprising connection between air quality and urban planning career choices.

In the spirit of scientific inquiry, it’s safe to say that our work here is done. Much like a perfectly timed dad joke, we have hit the punchline just right, and it's clear that no more research is needed in this area. We've solved the mystery of this unlikely pairing, leaving a chuckle in its wake and a newfound appreciation for the unexpected interconnectedness of the world around us.

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 Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners. Respond only with the name of a fictional academic journal.

ChatGPT:

The Journal of Quirky Urban Ecology

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 Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners. Respond only with the name of a fictional organization.

ChatGPT:

The Silliman Institute for Regional Air Quality and Urban Development

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 Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners with an abstract of In this scholarly yet slightly silly study, we delved into the delicate dance between air quality in Truckee, California, and the abundance of urban planners across the Golden State. With tongue-in-cheek determination, we sought to unravel this relationship and unearth any unexpected connections, much like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of statistical haystacks.
Harnessing data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our research team diligently scrutinized the levels of air pollutants in the serene town of Truckee and the corresponding numbers of urban planners buzzing about California's bustling cities. Our findings revealed a rather surprising correlation coefficient of 0.8365074 and p < 0.01 for the period spanning 2003 to 2022, akin to discovering a rare Pokemon card hidden in a stack of dull spreadsheets.
Our results beckon us to ponder: does the crisp mountain air of Truckee whisper sweet urban planning dreams to California's aspiring cityscape architects? Or do the bustling streets of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco release airborne muses that nudge individuals towards careers in urban design? This paper not only unearths statistical patterns but also tickles the funny bone, underscoring the whimsical intersections of serious research and the lighthearted nature of human connection.

ChatGPT:

Truckee air quality, urban planners, California, air pollutants, correlation coefficient, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Environmental Protection Agency, statistical analysis, urban design careers, California cities, air quality data, urban planning trends

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

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Data details

Air quality in Truckee, California
Detailed data title: Percentage of days with good air quality in Truckee-Grass Valley, CA
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
See what else correlates with Air quality in Truckee, California

The number of urban planners in California
Detailed data title: BLS estimate of urban and regional planners in California
Source: Bureau of Larbor Statistics
See what else correlates with The number of urban planners in California

Correlation r = 0.8365074 (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 = 0.6997447 (Coefficient of determination)
This means 70% of the change in the one variable (i.e., The number of urban planners in California) is predictable based on the change in the other (i.e., Air quality in Truckee, California) over the 20 years from 2003 through 2022.

p < 0.01, which is statistically significant(Null hypothesis significance test)
The p-value is 4.31E-6.^Show 0.0000043083874009198695000000
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 0.84 in 0.000431% of random cases. Said differently, if you correlated 232,105 random variables^Note You don't actually need 232 thousand variables to find a correlation like this one. I don't have that many variables in my database. 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.

In this particular case, the values are so extreme as to be meaningless. That's why no one reports p-values with specificity after they drop below 0.01.

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 19 degrees of freedom, ^Note Degrees of freedom is a measure of how many free components we are testing. In this case it is 19 because we have two variables measured over a period of 20 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.

[ 0.63, 0.93 ] 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.

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Air quality in Truckee, California (Good air quality)	0.471233	0.453552	0.515068	0.476712	0.364384	0.513661	0.67033	0.687671	0.687671	0.636612	0.571823	0.586301	0.596154	0.642076	0.547945	0.674931	0.756233	0.73224	0.605479	0.589041
The number of urban planners in California (Laborers)	4860	4790	5080	4450	5470	6210	7700	8930	8880	8650	7210	7430	7020	6770	6590	7950	7980	7930	7750	8140

Why this works

Data dredging: I have 25,237 variables in my database. I compare all these variables against each other to find ones that randomly match up. That's 636,906,169 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([0.471233,0.453552,0.515068,0.476712,0.364384,0.513661,0.67033,0.687671,0.687671,0.636612,0.571823,0.586301,0.596154,0.642076,0.547945,0.674931,0.756233,0.73224,0.605479,0.589041,])
array_2 = np.array([4860,4790,5080,4450,5470,6210,7700,8930,8880,8650,7210,7430,7020,6770,6590,7950,7980,7930,7750,8140,])
array_1_name = "Air quality in Truckee, California"
array_2_name = "The number of urban planners in California"

# 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 Air quality in Truckee, California
Line chart for only The number of urban planners in California
AI-generated correlation image
The spurious research paper: Tenuous Ties: Truckee's Air and the Teeming Throngs of California's Urban Planners

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Correlation ID: 5535 · Black Variable ID: 22267 · Red Variable ID: 5376


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