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[Darvi]

An unrelated WTF of the day for me: having to explain the concept of the arithmetic mean to a 22 year old university student.

Oh man, so many people don't know the difference between a median and a mean that it's sickening.


Whenever someone says "the average" of something I always have to ask what they mean. Ex: "The average income is going up." They talking about the mean income, or the median income?

When people say average they usually mean the mean (whoa). I have never seen or heard anybody use it as a median.

[kaijyuu]

I use it as median all the time D:

[Simmura McCrea]

An unrelated WTF of the day for me: having to explain the concept of the arithmetic mean to a 22 year old university student.

Oh man, so many people don't know the difference between a median and a mean that it's sickening.


Whenever someone says "the average" of something I always have to ask what they mean. Ex: "The average income is going up." They talking about the mean income, or the median income?

When people say average they usually mean the mean (whoa). I have never seen or heard anybody use it as a median.

Mathematicians are the only ones who use average to mean anything other than the mean.

[Darvi]

Correction: nobody in their right mind.

Mathematicians are the only ones who use average to mean anything other than the mean.

Pretty much. I don't even do it because it would only confuse people.

Note to self: use it as the median just to confuse people.

[Skyrunner]

Which average do you like the most?


There are arithmetic averages, geometric averages, and another one I forgotharmonic.

[Darvi]

I like harmonic means because whoa, harmony and peace and shit.

I think that one's used for parallel electric resistances?

[kaijyuu]

Well I guess that's another thing I'm weird unique with.

[Simmura McCrea]

Strip club spambot in Life Advice.

[kaenneth]

Got drug tested 'cause some girls at my school were smoking weed. So, entire school testing.

Damn sure I know who sold it, too.

How fitting, fellow Californians, to keep up the stereotype.

I just say "No" to being drug tested.

That said, I do have valid prescriptions for multiple controlled substances. (Doctors keep foisting percoset/oxycontin on me, but I don't want to get addicted, so I don't take them.)

[GlyphGryph]

I usually use average to mean the mode.

It's the one that is most common, and thus the most average. So when people ask me what the average is, I can easily just pick the tallest bar on the bar graph, and say "that one. That one right there. That's my darling little average."

Does this make me a bad person?

[Skyrunner]

You are going to statistics hell. ):


(Or not. I don't really know xD I never took AP Stat...)

[Leafsnail]

Well it's not the commonly meant one.  Personally I'd say the median is often a better indicator when it comes to, say, financial wellbeing (one millionaire moving into a neighbourhood doesn't suddenly make it 100% more affluent).

[NotAQuisling]

The hails died down but now they spotted a tornado in a nearby town/city. First time the weathers been so odd down here.

[Shinotsa]

Oh god, biggest wtf moment of my life. I felt like I had water coming out of my ear, so I shook my head a bit.

It. Was. A motherfucking tick. Creepiest moment of my goddamn life.

[Truean]

Oh god, biggest wtf moment of my life. I felt like I had water coming out of my ear, so I shook my head a bit.

It. Was. A motherfucking tick. Creepiest moment of my goddamn life.

Reading that got a real life shiver out of me. Hate spiders and archnids scare the hell out of me. Wouldn't be much better if it had 6 legs instead of 8 but just ......... [shiver]