Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by friedchips on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @03:24AM
(#49445194)
The average body temperature of the people in a hospital is in the normal range. Many do have a slight fever, but some are in the fridge.
Our stat prof was a very special guy.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by yoz-y on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @03:41AM
(#49445311)
I’d recommend reading “How to make the world count” instead of a work of a morally bankrupt guy who used the very same tricks he criticized to discredit the cancer studies of tobacco usage.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by steinwinde on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @04:57AM
(#49445872)
I suppose you mean the book "How to Make the World Add Up" of Tim Harford?! :-)
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by crimsoneer on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @07:13AM
(#49446957)
Everyone should just read everything by Tim Harford and then the world would be a better place.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by yoz-y on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @10:58AM
(#49450330)
Busted! Yes indeed!
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by card_zero on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @05:00AM
(#49445892)
I'd recommend reading whichever book is better.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by saulpw on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @03:18AM
(#49445164)
After all the average human has one breast and one testicle.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by tails4e on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @03:21AM
(#49445184)
Amd less than 2 legs.
If even one person has 1 leg, then the average is strictly less than 2.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by latexr on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @05:09AM
(#49445972)
I’ve heard this phrased as “the average person has an above average number of legs”.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by fooofw on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @06:26AM
(#49446611)
Wouldn't "the typical person has above average number of legs" or some such be better?
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by t-3 on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @07:08AM
(#49446926)
Yes, but less pithy. Placing the "average person" next to the "average number of legs" makes it clear that the idiomatic and intuitive sense of "average" that most people have is wrong. The more precise "typical person" doesn't make that same point as well, though an intelligent reader would certainly be expected to be able to read the same from it.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by M95D on Friday August 28, 2026 @11:31AM
(#49480056)
Median person?
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by MattPalmer1086 on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @05:35AM
(#49446214)
Bill Gates walked into a bar. Everyone was, on average, a multi millionaire.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by actionfromafar on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @07:12AM
(#49446951)
Large bar.
Re:More than half of adults in U.S. say they lack basic stat...
by MattPalmer1086 on Thursday August 27, 2026 @07:18AM
(#49462936)
Haha yes, should have said average billionaire!
A statistician is a man who with his head in the freezer and his feet in the oven can say "On the whole I feel perfectly normal."
Recommended reading: 'How to lie with statistics' - Huff, 1954
:)