You are referring to arithmetic mean.
Average is a typical value or central tendency in a set.
Many other ways to found an average.
"Many different descriptive statistics can be chosen as a measure of the central tendency of the data items. These include the arithmetic mean, the median, and the mode. Other statistics, such as the standard deviation and the range, are called measures of spread and describe how spread out the data is." - Wikipedia, of course.
So the average citizen would be a citizen who represents the typical or the central tendency in the set of all citizens. He might not even exist in a physical form!
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A reply on Conversation: What does the average citizen need maths for?
A reply on Conversation: What does the average citizen need maths for?
Mind you, I also find quantum physics terribly exciting and eagerly await to see where Schrodinger's cat will take us next!
I just wouldn't simply fail someone for grounding arguments in a school of thought that gave us so much.
A reply on Conversation: What does the average citizen need maths for?
It's a mathmatic concept even before math was formalized as a science. Math describes how things are, doesn't create them.
Average was a math concept before math, english or any language had a word for it ;). English just happened to pick average.
A comment on Conversation: What does the average citizen need maths for?
It's a mathmatic concept even before math was formalized as a science. Math describes how things are, doesn't create them.
Average was a math concept before math, english or any language had a word for it ;). English just happened to pick average.
A reply on Conversation: What does the average citizen need maths for?
You are referring to arithmetic mean.
Average is a typical value or central tendency in a set.
Many other ways to found an average.
"Many different descriptive statistics can be chosen as a measure of the central tendency of the data items. These include the arithmetic mean, the median, and the mode. Other statistics, such as the standard deviation and the range, are called measures of spread and describe how spread out the data is." - Wikipedia, of course.
So the average citizen would be a citizen who represents the typical or the central tendency in the set of all citizens. He might not even exist in a physical form!
Math isn't really about numbers.
Don't mistake all math for arithmetic.