this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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I mean, I LOL'd at the "this data is internally valid in the sense that I am precisely average in all respects, in relation to all the other [zero] people I know of the same sex" part.
Mathematically speaking it can't be, because if you put it in relation to only the OTHER people, you'd have to divide by zero which ends up non defined.
It only works out when you put it in relation to ALL people within those criteria, thus dividing by one.
I know statistics is different from simple fractions, but the arithmetic mean is close enough to nitpick the phrasing like that.
But the consequence is the same: it's nonsensical. N=1 means: "B*tch, I am the mean, the median, ALL the percentiles and the outlier!"
Somebody should put this in a rap track.
Look, I didn't want to shove that all into clarifying square brackets within a quote, OK?
Ever heard of footnotes? :p