The thing is, natural phenomena doesn't follow normal distribution, but the sum of non-normal variables, will approach a Gaussian distribution, as per the Central Limit Theorem[1][2].

The problem is people assuming a normal distribution on a single variable with unknown distribution.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_limit_theorem [2]: http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/22387/why-it-is-oft...

Yes, that's correct. If anyone wants to know more, an elementary statistics book will teach you all about the central limit theorem and the law of large numbers. Very useful things to know.

Khan Academy has a good lesson on the law of large numbers http://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/v/law-of-large-n...

mlvljr, for some reason your post is showing as "dead". I'm not sure why??