this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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News at 11: "Half of people are below average!"
Ashktually half people below the median.
Ackchyually, they never said which average they meant, you just assumed mean.
Same thing in a normal distribution, no?
Yes. In a normal, or Gaussian, distribution, the data is symmetrically distributed around the mean and thus mean (average value), mode (most frequent value) and median (middle value) all fall on the same point, which is the highest point of the curve.
Consider an exam in which there are two questions: one very easy and one very hard. You'll get a supermajority of people who answer the first question and two tiny tails - zero correct, two correct - such that the mode is very high and the outlayer groups are very small.
Then well over half the people are in the median and mean.
True, but those who know what "median" means probably also know what a "quartile" means, so if I used "median" it would've made my comment less of an "obvious, duh!" thing and spoil the unstated point I'm making as well as the joke.
Best leave the mathematical incorrectness there to preserve the feeling of obviousness.
Yeah but the average is pretty fucking dumb.
Not in Lake Wobegon!!
Only all the children in Lake Wobegon are above average. It's balanced out by them all turning into idiots when they become adults.