Month: November 2013

This exploration will focus on the idea that the word “average” can mean two different things.  In one sense, it can mean the most the common occurrence of a thing (for example, if a bar charges $5 for most of their beers, we would say the average price is 5$).  On the other hand, Average is a numerical concept of the middle (so if that same bar had a rare, expensive beer that cost $100, the “average price” of a beer in the bar could get inflated up to $10 a beer).    The implication is that the term average is contextual.   Futrhermore, in a given set, each data point can be unique, yet some can still be considered “average” depending on the context.  Take the “average” number from 1 to 100.   One could say the closer the number is to 50 the closer to average.  Yet each number is still distinct from the group as a whole.   Depending on the context, “average” can mean different things.