Here is a fine example of the spurious correlations that Big Data can create (ref. my post on “How Big Data Will not Help our Understanding of Complexity”).
This and many other great stupid examples are accessible on the spurious correlations page maintained by Tyler Vigen,
More data means the possibility of far more spurious correlations, and no doubt will it be difficult sometimes to figure out whether they are believable or not. More than ever, longer time scales will allow to distinguish spurious correlations or pure luck from real relationships. No doubt that in the Collaborative Age we will have data specialists that will track down these inadequate correlations like chemists were tracking charlatans selling proprietary “medicines” at the end of the 19th century!
I add another stupid (?) correlation to make your day between divorce rate and margarine consumption (note, it is a 99% correlation, no joke!):
