This is true, but I think a key difference is the time aspect. I am not really a causal inference researcher, I am more of a dragon slayer. The particular dragon I am engaging in battle is called cargo cult science . When fighting dragons, time is always essential; history will ask us how we allowed this dragon to terrorize us for so long. ( There are obviously more fiercesome creatures out there, but I don't really have any insight on how to defeat them, so starting with cargo cult science could at least be useful as target practice )

With this particular dragon, I believe the proper strategy is to train all scientists in causal reasoning. This is analogous to telling engineers that they can build more solid bridges if they learn calculus. The earlier you get this message out, the fewer bridges collapse. And importantly, the engineers themselves don't have to worry about the underlying mathematical theory and proofs, but it is really important that there are real mathematicians who work on that. This is why the work of people like Ilya, Pearl, Robins, Glymour, Richardson, etc is so important.