Sunday, August 20, 2017

Are You Above Or Below Average?



How average you are depends on how many different parameters you are looking at. If you look at enough statistics, you'll find some category in which you are exceptional, and that, too, is quite normal. It turns out I am average in almost every way, except for how many children I have, and whether I am above or below the average depends on your definitions. Still, being above or below average does not mean you are abnormal. Then again, you are probably more average than you think you are. All my life I've been told that I'm short, when I have always been the exact average for a woman my age. I knew that. Where people are particularly bad at knowing their own "averageness" is in their intelligence and competence. That's where the Dunning-Kruger Effect and Impostor Syndrome come in.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

For many years I was the exact average in height and weight for a man - - - in 1912.