4 ms·

GP comment did not imply that half of elements are below average. It just said that _some_ have to be. By definition, we cannot have all elements be above avera

• torstenvl 6y ago
  The average (median, mode, rounded mean) package of a dozen eggs contains 12 yolks. Occasionally there are 13 or even 14. Some packages intentionally contain 24. Vanishingly few if any contain 11 or fewer yolks.
  • lanna 6y ago
    With all due respect, you are just trying really hard to be pedantic. Your convoluted, contorted, corner-case example does not invalidate anything that was said here. You even had to resort to the word "rounded" to make it work. Without "rounded", most would be below mean.
    • betenoire 6y ago
      > at least one has to be below (average) this is the pedantic part. Normal usage of average means "pretty much what I expected", which is what they are trying to convey, imo.
      • tacitusarc 6y ago
        I think normally usage, that is non mathematical usage, doesn't mean what I expected, it means the middle of available options, or perhaps the most common option. When applied to quality one would expect that means there is low quality, average quality, and high quality. So I seriously don't know what this means in a legal context.
        • deleted 6y ago
          [deleted]
    • torstenvl 6y ago
      Buying eggs is not a corner case. But buying 12.1 eggs certainly is. I think you're projecting a little bit here. In any case, "average" does not mean "arithmetic mean." It means, mathematically, any of the median, mode, or mean or in standard vernacular, of typical or usual characteristics (i.e., close to mode). You don't get to just arbitrarily pick a definition that fits your viewpoint and start going "all due respect" on other people.
      • ZephyrBlu 6y ago
        > It means, mathematically In this case we're not in a mathematical context though.
• a1369209993 6y ago
  > By definition, we cannot have all elements be above average: at least one has to be below. Ludicrously pedantic nitpick: this only applies to finite sets - consider the sequence 1,1/2,1/3,1/4,... (the harmonic series). The average (mean, median, mode[0]) is (depending on how pedantic you want to be) either 0 or 0+ε[1], but in any case strictly less than any positive real number, while every element of the sequence is a positive real number. So it's not true by definition; it's a consequence of the basic sanity constraints that you're working with. 0: Strictly speaking mode only applies to continuous ditributions (ie, with a continuous probability density function) or fully discrete distibutions (eg heads vs tails), but 0 is the only (real number) x such that for any sufficiently small positive distance δ, the number of elements in x±δ is strictly greater than the number in x±2δ but not in x±δ (namely, all but a finite number of the inifitely many elements in x±2δ are also in x±δ). 1: Where ε is some surreal number[2] strictly less than any positive real number, but not necessarily 1/ω specifically. 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreal_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreal_number