I remember when I first learned about the central limit theorem, having this sudden realization: So that's where all those normal distributions come from! In

I remember when I first learned about the central limit theorem, having this sudden realization: So that's where all those normal distributions come from! In the statistics classes that most people take, they just dump this weird equation on you, and say that the normal distribution often arises in the real world. But they don't explain why, or in what kinds of situations you're likely to see things being normally distributed. It's like suddenly finding a walrus in your living room: everybody assures you that it's supposed to be there, but where the hell did it come from? The central limit theorem de-mystifies the normal distribution and makes the world easier to understand.