Causal Stories
Story 115
Jim, Carol, Bob, and Nancy are researchers in a remote area, and they have a limited supply of electricity. Because of their limited supply, the electricity only comes on in the evenings from 8-9 PM, and they have to restrict who can use power on certain days. If three people turn on their lamps at the same time, the breaker will fail. The breaker will not fail if fewer people turn on their lamps at the same time. Jim, Carol, Bob, and Nancy are all allowed to use their lamps on Thursdays. This Thursday Jim turns on his lamp at 8 PM. Just then, Carol turns on her lamp, and Bob also turns on his lamp. Since three people turned on their lamps at the same time, the circuit breaker failed.
Question
Did Jim turning on his lamp at 8 PM cause the circuit breaker to fail?
Majority Answer: No
Answer distribution over 25 people:
Is Ambiguous: False
Factor
These are the factors and their attributes present in this story.
Action Omission: Action
Causal Structure: Conjunctive
Event Normality: Normal
Norm Type: Prescriptive Norm
Time: Same Time Cause