• dumdum666@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    It seems really clear it was an argument against using an absurd example.

    According to upvotes - many people only read the headline.

    Never forget: 50% of the population have below average intelligence, by definition.

    • folkrav@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Nitpick, but that’d be the mean median, not average. Say intelligence is a scale out of 10, and we have a population of 4, that have intelligences of 2, 4, 5 and 10. The average would be (2+4+5+10)/4=5.25. 75% is actually worse than average. Extreme values mess with averages a lot - that 10 pulled up the average much higher than . The mean median would be (4+5)/2=4.5, which lines up with that statement, as it’s by definition the dead center of all the values in a statistical population.

      Edit: median, not mean

      • GreyEyedGhost
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        1 year ago

        This is the problem with small sample sizes, which is why we have standard deviation. Given that IQ is on a normal curve (it is) and we have a large sample size (we do), the deviation is going to be very small.

        So, very very close to 50% of the population is below average intelligence.

        • folkrav@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Let’s keep in mind modern IQ tests scores are normalized to a normal distribution with a mean of 100 and some fixed standard deviation on purpose (15? can’t remember), so of course they’ll fit a normal curve, they are literally made that way.

          I’m also admittedly extremely skeptical of IQ as a measure of general intelligence. It’s not like we have a shortage of high IQ morons out there. It’s a decent estimate of relative intelligence in certain areas, most notably of logical thinking, at best.