When I was studying this, my 先生 kind of brushed over the point, and then years later, I realize that they are different, but I don't know exactly how.
The only thing I understand is that ので is more polite. I suppose that's because ので isn't actually "because" like から, but more a nominalized statement (の) followed by (で), making it more indirect (and we all know that indirect means more polite in Japanese).
Anyone have any more information on the pair?
Answer
I find the best way to discriminate between these two is the following:
～ので marks an objective cause: 電車が遅れたので、間に合わなかった。 The fact that the train ran late is an objective, verifiable fact. The emphasis of the sentence is not so much on the cause as it is on the effect (or the sentence as a whole).
～から marks a subjective cause: 彼女はこれが好きそうだから、買ってあげよう。 The idea that she'll like this is the speaker's opinion, not an objective fact. The emphasis of the sentence is mostly on the cause.
Often the shift in emphasis is enough to decide which to use. If you want to draw attention to the effect (and give the cause an air of objectivity), use ～ので. On the other hand, if you want to draw attention to the cause, use ～から.
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