And knowing what happens on average is a good place to start. By so doing, we insulate ourselves from the tendency to build our thinking - our daily decisions, our laws, our governance - on exceptions and anomalies rather than on reality
Averages don't always reveal the most telling realities. You know, Shaquille O'Neal and I have an average height of 6 feet.
Averages are useful because many traits, behaviors, and outcomes are distributed in a bell-shaped curve, with most results clustered around the middle and a much smaller group of outliers at the high and low ends.
Remember, half the people you know are below average.
By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.
Averages ... seduce us away from minute observation.
The median isn't the message.
The natural price, therefore, is, as it were, the central price, to which the prices of all commodities are continually gravitating.
