I was thinking about the term 'average'. I understand there is a numerical AVERAGE that is determined by studying and assessing a group and doing comparisons. But I think most people dont have the resources or interest in doing those types of comparisons.

Instead , those people probably gauge what is 'average' by what is 'common' in their personal experience.

I went to school, for instance, with alot of blonde haired people(both blue and brown eyed)and so blonde got to be common and 'average' in my experience. I dont know numerically how rare or common blonde hair is , but in MY EXPERIENCE blonde was fairly common. As a result, it was non blonde hair that caught my attention and stood out and to this day, I am more likely to really do a double take when someone has darker hair as opposed to blonde hair.


so, when we think people are 'average' , do you think our gauge is close to reality (the numbers) more often than it isnt?



I have been told that blonde hair is more rare than dark hair (I think that is only being determined by NATURAL hair color and not the colors we observe though) so it isnt as average or common as I grew up observing it to be.


so, is 'average' a subjective term or an absolute term,, or can it be BOTH?

Who cares.

I do not believe in the use of "average" as a driscriptive word.

Everything and everyone are Unique in some way!!

great perspective,,,

subjective to ones personal expierence.

i think the average per may just agree with this.

so ambiguous and true,,lol

<~~~~~RED HEADS ARE ABOVE AVERAGE

If you are not using statistics from a representative sample of a population, then your version of "average" is subjective.

(Gee, I actually remember something from my college statistics class.)

straight forward and logical,,,

Yet you posted in the thread any ways.

I don't use the word average at all, I believe it is how we were taught, that makes us all different, and yet in some ways the same.

I view avarage as the near mid point between two extremes.
IMO the persons who live in the ordinary zone and content, are the people who can wind up being those with the most extraordinary life experiences.
They can be extraordinary influense in others lives.

Will !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi ya baby!!!!

Thanks, because I have had an "exciting" but average life imo.

Right on.To me the term "average" only applies to numbers.We are all different individuals so this does not apply

Hi back at you, beautiful.
I can get on for just a few minutes a couple times a day. Doing a lot with the kids and grankids.

Oldhippie,
You hang in there!

Hair colour is just hair colour to me. I just hate the way ginger people are picked on, but luckily, they are becoming more popular on the dating scene. I think it's because they have awesome personality traits. Though can't be sure.To me, hair is just hair.

ya know, I have always considered red or ginger hair to be unusual, but never was particularly 'attracted' to the trait,


yet, I think Horatio Caine is a sexy mofo (yes, I do realize he is just a television character,,,lol)

Average is not subjective. It has a mathematical definition despite
it's common use. Everyone is aware or should be aware of the definition
as it is taught as a compulsory element of every educational system
on earth.

Every average is defined for a certain population. If you calculate
the average hair color for example in a small swedish town you might
be likely to get blond. The average hair color in an african village
might be brown. The average hair color in a japanese city might be
black.

The reason that the descriptive adjective "average" has meaning for
people is because of it's mathematical definition.

Although the average person might disagree depending upon which
population is used to conduct the averaging...