An effect can in turn be a cause of, or causal factor for, many other effects, which all lie in its future. In general, a process has many causes, which are also said to be causal factors for it, and all lie in its past. Causality (also referred to as causation or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state or object (a cause) contributes to the production of another event, process, state or object (an effect) where the cause is partly responsible for the effect, and the effect is partly dependent on the cause.
