--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If an event can be produced by a number n…" description: "\"If an event can be produced by a number n of different causes, the probabilities of the existence of these causes, given the event (prises de l'événeme..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/pierre-simon-laplace-15849_causes_if-an-event-can-be-produced-by-a-number_813966.jpg" --- # If an event can be produced by a number n of different… ![“If an event can be produced by a number n of different causes, the probabilities of the existence of these causes, given the event (prises de l'événement), are to each other as the probabilities of the event, given the causes: and the probability of each cause is equal to the probability of the…” quote by Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/pierre-simon-laplace-15849_causes_if-an-event-can-be-produced-by-a-number_813966.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/pierre-simon-laplace-15849_causes_if-an-event-can-be-produced-by-a-number_813966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/pierre-simon-laplace-15849_causes_if-an-event-can-be-produced-by-a-number_813966.jpg) > “If an event can be produced by a number n of different causes, the probabilities of the existence of these causes, given the event (prises de l'événement), are to each other as the probabilities of the event, given the causes: and the probability of each cause is equal to the probability of the event, given that cause, divided by the sum of all the probabilities of the event, given each of the causes.” [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When an event has multiple causes, each cause’s probability equals its likelihood given the event divided by the sum of all such likelihoods. **In simple terms:** Cause probabilities are proportional to their likelihood given the event. Key Takeaway Calculate cause probabilities using Bayes‑like weighting. Themes probability causation statistics Mood critical inquisitive Type theoretical educational When to use this quote - risk assessment - medical diagnosis - fault analysis Key Concepts Bayesian inference conditional probability Questions to Reflect On - What if causes overlap? - How to handle unknown causes? A Different Perspective Assumes causes are mutually exclusive and exhaustive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Causes Probabilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes-probabilities-293488/) [Causes Probability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes-probability-293487/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Divided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divided/) [Equal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal/) [Événement Probabilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/v-nement-probabilities-293485/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Probabilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probabilities/) [Probability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probability/) [Probability Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probability-cause-293486/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [Fear is a probability by its own cause of actions, if we live by it we lose all the possibilities of endurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saleem-durrani/fear-is-a-probability-by-its-own-cause-of-actions-if-we-live-by-it-we/) [Saleem Durrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saleem-durrani/) > [“As a scientist, I know that predicting outcomes is based as much on probability as on cause and effect. It isn’t always possible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-melvin/as-a-scientist-i-know-that-predicting-outcomes-is-based-as-much-on/) [Leland Melvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-melvin/) > [The more people you contact, the higher your sales will be because of the law of probabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/the-more-people-you-contact-the-higher-your-sales-will-be-because-of/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Our beliefs are not just estimates of probabilities. They are also the instruments that guide our actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/our-beliefs-are-not-just-estimates-of-probabilities-they-are-also-the/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [History cannot be reduced to a set of statistics and probabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/history-cannot-be-reduced-to-a-set-of-statistics-and-probabilities/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [He who has heard the same thing told by 12,000 eye-witnesses has only 12,000 probabilities, which are equal to one strong probability, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-who-has-heard-the-same-thing-told-by-12-000-eye-witnesses-has-only/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/as-for-a-future-life-every-man-must-judge-for-himself-between/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The true Logic for this world is the Calculus of Probabilities, which takes account of the magnitude of the probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clerk-maxwell/the-true-logic-for-this-world-is-the-calculus-of-probabilities-which/) [James Clerk Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clerk-maxwell/) > [Probabilities direct the conduct of the wise man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/probabilities-direct-the-conduct-of-the-wise-man/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“If the universe was scientific and just left to itself, then we’d have statistical probabilities to rely on. But once people are involved it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/if-the-universe-was-scientific-and-just-left-to-itself-then-we-d-have/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Arguments derived from probabilities are idle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/arguments-derived-from-probabilities-are-idle/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [We can never achieve absolute truth but we can live hopefully by a system of calculated probabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-meyer-driscoll/we-can-never-achieve-absolute-truth-but-we-can-live-hopefully-by-a/) [Agnes Meyer Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-meyer-driscoll/) > [Scientists are stuck in this belief that we tell people probabilities, not absolute answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schneider/scientists-are-stuck-in-this-belief-that-we-tell-people-probabilities/) [Stephen Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schneider/) > [It has been pointed out already that no knowledge of probabilities, less in degree than certainty, helps us to know what conclusions are true,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/it-has-been-pointed-out-already-that-no-knowledge-of-probabilities/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [“I don't simply create probabilities, I guide them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/i-don-t-simply-create-probabilities-i-guide-them/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) ## More by Pierre-Simon Laplace > [It is interesting thus to follow the intellectual truths of analysis in the phenomena of nature. This correspondence, of which the system of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/it-is-interesting-thus-to-follow-the-intellectual-truths-of-analysis/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [“L'homme ne poursuit que des chimères. ( Man follows only phantoms .) { His true last words, according to Augustus De Morgan .}”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/l-homme-ne-poursuit-que-des-chim-res-man-follows-only-phantoms-his/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [Such is the advantage of a well constructed language that its simplified notation often becomes the source of profound theories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/such-is-the-advantage-of-a-well-constructed-language-that-its/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [Napoleon: You have written this huge book on the system of the world without once mentioning the author of the universe. Laplace: Sire, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/napoleon-you-have-written-this-huge-book-on-the-system-of-the-world/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/the-weight-of-evidence-for-an-extraordinary-claim-must-be/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [“...by shortening the labours doubled the life of the astronomer. { On the benefit of John Napier 's logarithms .}”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/by-shortening-the-labours-doubled-the-life-of-the-astronomer-on-the/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [To Napoleon on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God: Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/to-napoleon-on-why-his-works-on-celestial-mechanics-make-no-mention/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [We are so far from knowing all the forces of nature and their various modes of action that it would be unworthy of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/we-are-so-far-from-knowing-all-the-forces-of-nature-and-their-various/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [The word 'chance' then expresses only our ignorance of the causes of the phenomena that we observe to occur and to succeed one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/the-word-chance-then-expresses-only-our-ignorance-of-the-causes-of/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [The simplicity of the law by which the celestial bodies move, and the relations of their masses and distances, permit analysis to follow their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/the-simplicity-of-the-law-by-which-the-celestial-bodies-move-and-the/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [His last words, according to De Morgan: Man follows only phantoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/his-last-words-according-to-de-morgan-man-follows-only-phantoms/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [The most important questions of life are indeed, for the most part, really only problems of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/the-most-important-questions-of-life-are-indeed-for-the-most-part/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [Man follows only phantoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/man-follows-only-phantoms/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [The simplicity of nature is not to be measured by that of our conceptions. Infinitely varied in its effects, nature is simple only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/the-simplicity-of-nature-is-not-to-be-measured-by-that-of-our/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) > [Nature laughs at the difficulties of integration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-simon-laplace/nature-laughs-at-the-difficulties-of-integration/) [Pierre-Simon Laplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) [Explore all 39 Pierre-Simon Laplace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-simon-laplace/) ## More Causes quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/) [Daniel D. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-palmer/) > [Get out from that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans. Well, roll my breakfast cause I'm a hungry man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-joe-turner/get-out-from-that-kitchen-and-rattle-those-pots-and-pans-well-roll-my/) [Big Joe Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-joe-turner/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. The real cause of all problems lie in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/jobs-and-money-are-never-the-primary-cause-of-stress-thinking/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/) [Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/) > [I don't wear rubbers cause you can't catch it twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-norton/i-don-t-wear-rubbers-cause-you-can-t-catch-it-twice/) [Jim Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-norton/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Well the first time I performed, my mom was like how she is now when sees me on stage – all red, smiling from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/well-the-first-time-i-performed-my-mom-was-like-how-she-is-now-when/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things / Like / My cousin comes to visit and you know he's from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eloise-greenfield/i-love-a-lot-of-things-a-whole-lot-of-things-like-my-cousin-comes-to/) [Eloise Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eloise-greenfield/) > [Many companies have long contended that stress in the home causes productivity loss in the market place.. and it does. 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