1285

Astonishing (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 9 months ago by sjmarf@sh.itjust.works to c/memes@lemmy.ml

115 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] theFibonacciEffect@feddit.de 201 points 9 months ago

About 50% of people are below average

[-] Takumidesh@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

This cracks me up because it is often said with such confidence, but it is just wrong.

If you have 10 people, 8 have an intelligence score of 1, 1 has a score of 5 and 1 has a score of 10. The average is 2.3 which means that 80% of the people are below average.

The median is the only thing that is going to guarantee 50%.

[-] bouh@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago

On a bell curve the average and mean are the same. Your example isn't a bell curve. Many things will be a bell curve.

[-] candybrie@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

People who don't know that average can be mean, median or mode depending on the context crack me up.

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] theFibonacciEffect@feddit.de 10 points 9 months ago

Yes, that statement is made under the assumption of large sample sizes (where the central limit theorem applies)

load more comments (4 replies)

[-] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 111 points 9 months ago

Think about how dumb the average person is. And then remember that half of them are dumber than that!

[-] triclops6@lemmy.ca 25 points 9 months ago

Carlin was a prophet

[-] drolex@sopuli.xyz 19 points 9 months ago

But he was shit at statistics. He mixes up median and mean.

[-] imaqtpie@lemmy.myserv.one 35 points 9 months ago

Statistically, IQ follows a standard distribution, so the median and mean should be relatively close.

[-] triclops6@lemmy.ca 30 points 9 months ago

And you lose most of the audience when discussing median, I'm guessing there was a conscious choice to sacrifice some accuracy for comedic value

load more comments (2 replies)

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de 92 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I guess the education system is really struggling ...

(Also his account is satire, right?)

[-] chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 70 points 9 months ago

Yes, he is the Congressman for California's 54th district (it only has 52, but was probably still 53 when he started the satire account).

[-] Haus@kbin.social 17 points 9 months ago

Wow, at least 13 years. I remember coming across him when reddit was young: https://www.prwatch.org/spin/2010/09/9423/washington-post-duped-fake-congressman

[-] tryagain@lemmy.ml 18 points 9 months ago

oh thank christ

[-] rahmad@lemmy.ml 84 points 9 months ago

Err... im not sure everyone in this thread is getting the joke?

[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 18 points 9 months ago

That the bottom 25% of scorers in standardized tests are in the bottom quartile of the distribution, which is literally defined as the bottom 25%, but the Twitter user seems to be using that fact to justify something yet he's literally just stating a fact?

The bottom 25% will always exist and there will always be 25% of the results contained within it.

Not sure how anyone doesn't get it, but this Twitter screenshot exists, so there's that.

Oh, sorry, this "x" exists. Dumb fucking name.

[-] Nurgle@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

Am I misreading this or are you doubling down on not getting it’s satire?

[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 8 points 9 months ago

I like you kid, you've got grit.

[-] funnystuff97@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago

The twitter account is a satire account. They're trying to stir the pot.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 11 points 9 months ago

Don't forget that about half the population have an IQ below average

load more comments (4 replies)

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 14 points 9 months ago

Poe's law is a bitch.

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 71 points 9 months ago

Small head: He’s proving his point really well.
Big head: He’s proving his point really well.

[-] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 66 points 9 months ago

100% of people who have committed a murder have drunk DiHydrogen Monoxide within the last two weeks, do you feel safe giving this to your children?

[-] 4am@lemm.ee 26 points 9 months ago

It’s toxic and can lead to DEATH if inhaled! Big if true!

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 47 points 9 months ago

But 25% of all American students also scored in the top quartile on standardized tests, so it cancels out!

[-] wheeldawg@sh.itjust.works 14 points 9 months ago

Plus, it's amazing that every student at least got placed on the graph. Missing that would be shameful.

[-] Haywire@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

Just another example of those damn participation trophies.

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 40 points 9 months ago

But at least the healthcare system is quite good: most people have more legs than average

load more comments (7 replies)

[-] Fox@pawb.social 40 points 9 months ago

Normal if true

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] willeypete23@reddthat.com 38 points 9 months ago

How astute. You're really top of the bell curve.

[-] OneNot@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Hey that's a sly insult :D

I'm definitely gonna use that one later.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] solidsnake2085@lemmy.world 35 points 9 months ago

Are memes just straight screenshots of Twitter now?

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 31 points 9 months ago

This is satire.

[-] samson@aussie.zone 9 points 9 months ago

I'm shocked

[-] Wilibus@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

This is officially the second dumbest take on the value of a quarter.

I knew a person who thought quarter to six meant 5:35 because "how many cents in a quarter dumbass."

load more comments (7 replies)

[-] Phoenix3875@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

Technically, if everyone gets the full mark, no one will be in the bottom quartile.

[-] ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works 30 points 9 months ago

Also, everyone would be in the bottom quartile. The definitions fall apart when you collapse the probability function.

[-] Eq0@literature.cafe 14 points 9 months ago

I’m overthinking this.

If everyone gets the full mark, it’s not a random variable anymore, you would have a collapse of the probability distribution, that would tend to a Dirac delta function. In this case, the very definition of “quartiles” would fail. So, yeah, there would be no one there because it wouldn’t exist.

[-] Spendrill@lemm.ee 16 points 9 months ago

If ever a reliable method for measuring actual intelligence rather than IQ is invented I imagine we'll be seeing a somewhat lumpier graph than that smooth mean distribution curve.

[-] DrMango@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

No, this is how a graph showing quartiles will always look because quartiles, by definition, always include a fixed percentage of the studied population under them.

In this case the lower quartile will always have 25% of the population under it, 50% under the second quartile, and 75% under the third quartile.

Quartiles break a population into 4 equal portions.

[-] aesopjah@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago

While that's true, the actual empirical curve does not have to be smooth. Or gaussian.

load more comments (5 replies)

[-] MBM@lemmings.world 11 points 9 months ago

At the end of the day, reducing intelligence down to one single number is already kind of questionable. What does it mean for someone to be 1 point more intelligent than another person?

load more comments (6 replies)

load more comments (9 replies)

[-] Rayspekt@kbin.social 14 points 9 months ago

Big if true, bruh.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 9 months ago

He couldn't be more right. Absolutely appalling.

load more comments