Questionable Cause
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc · False Cause
The confusion of association with causation, either by inappropriately deducing (or rejecting) causation or a broader failure to properly investigate the cause of an observed effect.
Origin
The questionable cause fallacy, also known as post hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin: "after this, therefore because of this"), was recognized by ancient Greeks and Romans thousands of years ago. Aristotle identified it in his Rhetoric, noting that politicians especially assume that because event B follows event A, it must have been caused by A. The fallacy confuses temporal sequence with causation: while a cause must precede its effect, mere precedence is insufficient to establish a causal relationship without additional evidence.