If by statistical mechanisms you mean which correlations are causal/predictive, then we are saying the same thing. No human population data is ever from a controled experiment, which means that it is impossible to tell from the data alone what relationships are causal and what the result of future manipulations will be. This depends on adding the data to your model/concuptual framework of the system. Our ability to apply the data is based on our understanding of the system. If you’re conceptual framework of the system is off, simply adding more data doesn’t help anything.
