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I absolutely love this article, and I like to re-read it every once in a while. It talks about the same thing: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/w

by Foomf 4y ago

I absolutely love this article, and I like to re-read it every once in a while. It talks about the same thing: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages.html https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-...

elephant_burger 4y ago
Thank you for sharing. This is the first chapter from Todd Rose's excellent book The End of Average. In the book, he also touches on the fascinating topic of context. For example there is no such thing as a person's average level of aggression - IF I am around my parents I tend to get aggressive, but IF I am around friends and strangers I am calm. https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-end-of-average-9780141980034 https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-end-of-average-97801419...
- giardini 4y ago
  FWIW the face of the statue of the "the typical woman 'Norma'" at https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages.html https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-... resembles Dana Scully of The X-Files. I also enjoyed Todd Rose's book, which examines the history of (mis-)interpretations and (mis-)uses of the "average": The End of Average https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Unlocking-Potential-Embracing/dp/0062358375 https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Unlocking-Potential-Embra...
  - leoc 4y ago
    Even Rose's article (I haven't read his book yet so I can't really say about that) tiptoes around what was going on here. It wasn't just a naive application of statistics. Rose gets through the Norma story without mentioning eugenics once, but the whole episode is so obviously part of America's pre-WWII eugenics swoon. Beyond specific beliefs about politics, race or genetics, but linked to them, there was a whole Zeitgeist, the collectivist spirit of the age that gave us Busby Berkeley musical numbers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysvQ5MaUbd8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysvQ5MaUbd8 and the IBM company songbook https://www.networkworld.com/article/2333702/a-history-of-singing-the-big-blues.html https://www.networkworld.com/article/2333702/a-history-of-si... . This was a time when it was acceptable, indeed it was progressive, to be violently hostile to difference or defectiveness: see for example War Against the Weak https://waragainsttheweak.com/ https://waragainsttheweak.com/ and, maybe most especially, The Black Stork https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-black-stork-9780195077315 https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-black-stork-9780... . And of course it's no coincidence that the pioneers of statistics tended to be particular fans of eugenics themselves. (I am not an expert on anything.)
coldcode 4y ago
While its not averages, it is nonetheless interesting view of misleading statistical analysis: https://www.trevorbragdon.com/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solution/ https://www.trevorbragdon.com/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solu... about WW2 airplane design.
leoc 4y ago
Unfairly or not, the OP does feel like a summary of Todd Rose's own "When U.S. air force discovered the flaw of averages", an excerpt from The End of Average, which you linked there. Rose's article has been strongly upvoted here several times over the years.

by Foomf 4y ago

elephant_burger 4y ago

Thank you for sharing. This is the first chapter from Todd Rose's excellent book The End of Average. In the book, he also touches on the fascinating topic of context. For example there is no such thing as a person's average level of aggression - IF I am around my parents I tend to get aggressive, but IF I am around friends and strangers I am calm. https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-end-of-average-9780141980034 https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-end-of-average-97801419...

giardini 4y ago
FWIW the face of the statue of the "the typical woman 'Norma'" at https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages.html https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-... resembles Dana Scully of The X-Files. I also enjoyed Todd Rose's book, which examines the history of (mis-)interpretations and (mis-)uses of the "average": The End of Average https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Unlocking-Potential-Embracing/dp/0062358375 https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Unlocking-Potential-Embra...
- leoc 4y ago
  Even Rose's article (I haven't read his book yet so I can't really say about that) tiptoes around what was going on here. It wasn't just a naive application of statistics. Rose gets through the Norma story without mentioning eugenics once, but the whole episode is so obviously part of America's pre-WWII eugenics swoon. Beyond specific beliefs about politics, race or genetics, but linked to them, there was a whole Zeitgeist, the collectivist spirit of the age that gave us Busby Berkeley musical numbers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysvQ5MaUbd8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysvQ5MaUbd8 and the IBM company songbook https://www.networkworld.com/article/2333702/a-history-of-singing-the-big-blues.html https://www.networkworld.com/article/2333702/a-history-of-si... . This was a time when it was acceptable, indeed it was progressive, to be violently hostile to difference or defectiveness: see for example War Against the Weak https://waragainsttheweak.com/ https://waragainsttheweak.com/ and, maybe most especially, The Black Stork https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-black-stork-9780195077315 https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-black-stork-9780... . And of course it's no coincidence that the pioneers of statistics tended to be particular fans of eugenics themselves. (I am not an expert on anything.)

coldcode 4y ago

While its not averages, it is nonetheless interesting view of misleading statistical analysis: https://www.trevorbragdon.com/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solution/ https://www.trevorbragdon.com/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solu... about WW2 airplane design.

leoc 4y ago

Unfairly or not, the OP does feel like a summary of Todd Rose's own "When U.S. air force discovered the flaw of averages", an excerpt from The End of Average, which you linked there. Rose's article has been strongly upvoted here several times over the years.