Causal relations in the real world are rarely simple. Two goals can support one another via circular causality. (NB: Like recurrent processors in a PDP net.) "Then a loop of circular causality ensues, in which each goal gains suppoert from the other until their combined urge becomes irresistible."
Simplifying involves removing such recurrent loops. "There are countless different types of networks that contain loops. But all networks that contain no loops are basically the sam: each has the form of a simple chain. Because of this, we can apply the very same types of reasoning to everything we can represent in terms of chains of causes and effects."
But such "straightening out" requires ignoring important interactions, as well as ignoring causal links that move in the opposite direction.
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