Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Yalkim t1_j6l4417 wrote

Actually that is not necessarily the case. It depends on what quantity you are averaging but in a lot of cases that is not the case. For example the average number of testicles per person is 1. But obviously the average person doesn’t have 1 testicle.

Edit: another example that is more relevant but hypothetical: If 40% of the population has an IQ greater than 120, 40% less than 80 and the remaining 20% between 80 and 120 then the average IQ of the world is around 100 but 80% of people are far from average. They are either really smart or really stupid.

6

Brilliant_Play4255 t1_j6lclcq wrote

I really like your post.

I bet you noticed that the OP didn't use or reference statistics either.

This is a really common error : mislabeling stuff like percentages as stats.

It contributes a great deal to the types of erroneous mathematical assumptions you referenced.

4