The matter of consequence

  Consequence...if one looks at the way this word is composed - the root and the prefix - you might notice the word sequence.  You probably know "sequence", means "the order in which elements of an event or process occur".  The prefix, "con", means together.
   While it might be strange to consider the idea or concept of consequence from its component parts, then you might think further, "Well to me, CONSEQUENCE, means 'the order of elements depends on the existence of other elements in the set'."
   That might sound mathematical, and it is. Fear not, mathematics is the friend that describes the world in terms of its measurable bits. Mathematicians and scientists are the arbiters who determine how those measurements are expressed and the relationships that the bits have with each other. We'll talk about relationships later.
    Back to CONSEQUENCE. So to apply our definition you might think, "Eat ice cream, then get fat"; believing  you have shown understanding of CONSEQUENCE. Yes, you understand on the basic level.
    Those with a more advanced notion of CONSEQUENCE and human biology also know it is more than just eating ice cream; it is consuming more ice cream calories than your metabolism burns that makes fat in your body.A mathematician would then use ">" in the statement and a scientist would say , "Eat ice cream>metabolism, then yield fat."  Such a statement describes a true relationship. More about truth later.