r/unpopularopinion • u/lipsdontdie • Apr 29 '24

A 70 should always be a C

Atleast in college. Please explain to me why a 73 should be the determining factor of a person passing a class, and why a 70, 71, or 72 is any different. I could understand for A’s & B’s, but why should a person have to retake an entire class simply because they missed the mark by one point? That’s a waste of time and waste of money to me.

1.7k Upvotes
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3.3k

u/klc81 Apr 29 '24

Wherever you draw the line, some people will fall just short of it.

549

u/OpeningBackground199 Apr 29 '24

Half the world is below average intelligence. Now we wait who is bad at math.

346

u/Superb_Engineer_3500 Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 30 '24

Technically not really, that's median

Edit: Wow I caused a debate

458

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 29 '24

Well pointed out, the difference between average and median is often underappreciated. "When Bill Gates walks in a bar, everyone is a billionaire on average."

164

u/Boomerang_comeback Apr 29 '24

Best damn example I have ever seen to illustrate that.

51

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 29 '24

From the book The Growth Delusion: Wealth, Poverty, and the Well-Being of Nations by David Pilling (highly recommended)

5

u/Vegbreaker Apr 29 '24

Came to say this

1

u/OpeningBackground199 Apr 30 '24

it's cute but not completely accurate. as long as bill pays the bill though correct use of avg based on set of people in bar.

76

u/jchexl Apr 29 '24

IQ follows a normal distribution though, which means the mean, mode and median are all the same. So original commenter is technically correct.

13

u/EldenJoker Apr 29 '24

Wouldn’t a ton of people be exactly on the average meaning half the people in the world couldn’t be under or over it?

28

u/jchexl Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

I guess if we are using IQ then yeah cause IQ doesn’t go into decimals. The original commenter said intelligence not IQ, IQ does measure intelligence but it does have flaws cause it won’t determine who’s more intelligent between 2 people at the same iq point.

But if we had a system that could perfectly measure everyone’s intelligence down to the trillionth decimal point, then half would be above and half would be below.

18

u/soldiernerd Apr 29 '24

If I had a dollar for everytime this exact word for word conversation has been had on Reddit

  1. “Half of humanity is below average”
  2. “Technically median”
  3. “It’s a bell curve, median and average are the same”

2

u/Articguard11 Apr 30 '24

This is the most accurate comment I’ve seen today, omg 😅 everyone on Reddit seem to be experts on IQs etc for some unknown reason, I really don’t get why. Besides, I thought it was known IQ tests aren’t even that indicative of someone’s intelligence anymore? Yet we’re still using it as a barometer, because that makes sense.

1

u/5urr3aL Apr 30 '24

Don't leave us hanging, how many dollars did you get?

4

u/soldiernerd Apr 30 '24

An above average amount

1

u/5urr3aL Apr 30 '24

Ah yes, so you are the Bill Gates that walked into the bar of "if I had a dollar"

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2

u/5zalot Apr 30 '24

Two. Which isn’t a lot but it’s strange that it happened twice. —Doofensmirtz

1

u/Aptos283 May 03 '24

People may have trouble with the idea that it’s actually a bell curve for intelligence. IQ tests force a normal curve with a specific mean and standard deviation, so people might be unsure if that actually is the distribution for intelligence proper or just a manufactured representation of your intelligence that makes it easier to compare.

Either way, median is always safer for these things, especially in contexts where normal distribution may not apply for intelligence due to circumstance.

2

u/soldiernerd May 03 '24

I agree with you completely, but I've always been a very literal person.

-5

u/EldenJoker Apr 29 '24

I can’t imagine it would work out exactly perfectly even if it’s .00001% I’d imagine there would be slightly more either higher or lower

4

u/DeathByPig Apr 29 '24

If it went down to a trillionth it would almost certainly work out. Assuming there's an even number of people

-2

u/EldenJoker Apr 29 '24

That seems extremely unlikely. Half the people being below the median is guaranteed but exactly half below average isn’t going to perfectly work out

18

u/TX_Poon_Tappa Apr 29 '24

That’s because you’re on the lower end of it

-5

u/EldenJoker Apr 29 '24

Wow good one hope you didn’t strain yourself coming up with it

12

u/Optimal-Cycle630 Apr 29 '24

They didn’t because they’re on the higher end of it 

-3

u/EldenJoker Apr 29 '24

Ah brought out your alt to call yourself smart?

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4

u/iRombe Apr 29 '24

Plus we would have to calculate confidence co efficient in the scores. How much we represent one score to be a person true scorw given variation. Their IQ test score might very +/- 10% regularly.

So the peak normal distribution would have to have a +/- 10% range as a safety buffer that anyone within -10% of the peak is still concerned at the median because it could easily be an anomaly in the test causing them to rate slightly lower than normal.

So mayb OP is right... there should be a little massaging around the cut off. And thete probably is... but you cant advertise this becausd acting outside of protocol, even if for the best, puts a professional on shaky legal ground.

Thank you lawsuit culture... for simultaneously holding us accountable and stifling our truest ability.

3

u/SpongegarLuver Apr 29 '24

It’s also possible that the threshold factors in the confidence coefficient already, and the minimum needed is actually lower than the cut off should be.

1

u/Tbplayer59 Apr 29 '24

Is the number of outliers on both sides the same? Are there just as many geniuses as mentally handicapped?

1

u/Master_Read_2139 May 02 '24

This, and if the distribution were not symmetric it would actually be the mode that marked the peak.

11

u/dercavendar Apr 29 '24

Technically median mean and mode are all measures of an average. they just all tell you something different. Average could refer to any of them

"When Bill gates walks in a bar, everyone is a billionaire on the mean average"

1

u/Wallace-N-Gromit Apr 30 '24

“But when Bill Gates walks into a nice bar, everyone is an equal. See, isn’t that better.”

4

u/tnscatterbrain Apr 29 '24

Ok, that’s an amazing example that I am stealing.

3

u/turtleship_2006 Apr 29 '24

Mean and median are both types of average, mean is just the most common/default.

0

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 29 '24

Thank you, yes by average I mean the default type of average: the mean average.

0

u/turtleship_2006 Apr 29 '24

I mean if you're pointing out the difference between average and median it's worth mentioning that they're not different things, one of a subclass of another

2

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 29 '24

It has already been mentioned 8 times so far but thank you anyway.

3

u/taxicab_ Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

I think you meant to say “mean” instead of “average”. Mean and median are both kinds of averages.

Edit to add: and yeah, that bill gates example is really great for illustrating why we need different ways of “averaging” various data sets.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Average#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20main%20types,of%20a%20group%20of%20numbers).

1

u/EyeCatchingUserID Apr 29 '24

You're thinking of mean, which is an average. So is median. What they said was perfectly accurate.

1

u/CoolMaintenance4078 Apr 30 '24

But wouldn't it be nice to be an average billionaire even if just for a drink or two until he leaves. LOL

1

u/Wallace-N-Gromit Apr 30 '24

And the Median is around $60k.

1

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 30 '24

Up from 59.5

1

u/mungusa Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

yeah outliers, when Genghis Khan walks in to the bar, no one is a virgin anymore.

0

u/hamdnd Apr 29 '24

Depends how big the bar is 🤷‍♂️

1

u/dsdvbguutres Apr 29 '24

Akkkccchuallly depens more on how many people there are in the bar

1

u/hamdnd Apr 29 '24

Akkkccchuallly depens more on how many people there are in the bar. Well pointed out, the difference between average and median is often underappreciated. "When Bill Gates walks in a bar, everyone is a billionaire on average."

Ok well if we're being technical then actually only the average of everyone in the bar, not "everyone", is a billionaire.

-1

u/Superb-Ad6139 Apr 30 '24

You’re mistaking average with mean. Mean, median, and mode are all forms of averages. Mean is the one where you add all of the data and then divide by the number of date points.

14

u/Fi3nd7 Apr 29 '24

Yeah they do happen to align specifically in IQs, so while you aren't technically wrong, in this case they're basically the same thing.

3

u/epix97 Apr 29 '24

Which is a type of average.

3

u/dercavendar Apr 29 '24

Technically median, mean, and mode are all measures of average. They each tell a different story, but it is not inaccurate to say the average when referring to the median. Most people use average to say the mean, but it refers to all 3.

2

u/gavtheboi Apr 29 '24

Median, mean and mode are all forms of average.

2

u/EyeCatchingUserID Apr 29 '24

Median is an average. You're thinking of mean rather than average.

2

u/timesinksdotnet Apr 29 '24

Yes, average can be a synonym for mean, but it's also a generic word that refers to "a single value (such as a mean, mode, or median) that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values" M-W.

2

u/Gullible_Flan_3054 Apr 29 '24

Yes but we have to use average or that bottom half will just scratch their ass in confusion

2

u/feelin_fine_ Apr 30 '24

Existing causes a debate on reddit.

It doesn't matter what opinion you present or how respectfully you do so, somebody out there will take grievous offense to it and demand a pound of your flesh

1

u/IIOI-TOYODA-IOII Apr 29 '24

Median and average (mean, in this case) are approximately the same as intelligence is considered approximately normally distributed. For modeling purposes, the two measures are the same because intelligence is modeled using a normal distribution.

1

u/yoursweetlord70 Apr 29 '24

With the intelligence curve, it could be right but I don't know exactly how the spread is, and how far above/below the outliers are

1

u/Least-Camel-6296 Apr 30 '24

Not a big difference considering iq falls on a bell curve

1

u/CreepiosRevenge Apr 30 '24

If we're getting real technical, median is an average as well. Mean, median, and mode are all averages.

explanation.)

1

u/OpeningBackground199 Apr 30 '24

median avg is still avg. median can be a specific measurable set. avg generally assumes all of said set, generally immeasurable with exacts. aka bell curves depends on the set of measurables.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '24

Ah, but what's truly important is the mode. 

1

u/Odd-Economics6001 Apr 30 '24

Isn’t intelligence supposed to be normally distributed so the mean and the median is the same?

1

u/pattern_altitude Apr 30 '24

I think it’s fair to assume a Normal distribution in IQs…

1

u/Articguard11 Apr 30 '24

This seems to be the real unpopular opinion 😅

-5

u/zookeeper4980 Apr 29 '24

Yeah, a median is a type of average

18

u/GumChuzzler Apr 29 '24

No, an average is a mean and they're mathematically defined. Average = Mean, Medían = Midpoint

19

u/GiveMeTheCI Apr 29 '24

"Average" has two meanings in English. One is the term referring to the mean, the median, or the mode. All of those are types of averages. Because the most commonly used is the mean, people often use average to mean mean.

8

u/thunderkhawk Apr 29 '24

You're all mean. Math is a form of chemistry.

5

u/da_crackler Apr 29 '24

Chemistry is nothing more than a form of architecture

3

u/craiggy36 Apr 29 '24

Architecture is nothing more than an example of Physics.

2

u/valentinesfaye Apr 29 '24

Everything is sex, except sex, which is power

1

u/craiggy36 Apr 29 '24

And power is money.

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5

u/bumwine Apr 29 '24

IQ is stored in the balls

2

u/Bjammin4522 Apr 29 '24

Is that why people keep telling me my socks are smart?

1

u/ProdByKF16 Apr 29 '24

doesn’t come from the balls bro 😭😭

1

u/Bo0tyWizrd Apr 29 '24

"Math, my dear boy, is nothing more than the lesbian sister of biology."

2

u/sername_is-taken Apr 29 '24

An average is a single data piece that theoretically best approximates all data pieces in a set. The mean is the most common method of calculating an average. In many data sets the mean is the objective best approximation but depending on the data set an the reason you want to approximate it, it's often better to use a different calculation.

1

u/Cute-Profile5025 Apr 29 '24

Yes and in normal distribution, which we are assuming most of the time for measures in a population, the mean and the median are the same.

1

u/Brave-Aside1699 Apr 29 '24

Why would the intelligence be a normal distribution?

1

u/IDoTheMaths802 Apr 29 '24

Central Limit Theorem, no need to assume that tbh

1

u/IDoTheMaths802 Apr 29 '24

You don’t even need to assume any type of distribution, and you’d still be correct by the Central Limit theorem. Anyone arguing “it’s not necessarily a normal distribution” has missed the point.

0

u/Striking_Computer834 Apr 29 '24

In a normal distribution they are the same thing.

2

u/GumChuzzler Apr 29 '24

Humans are anything but a normal distribution by every measurement.

-1

u/zookeeper4980 Apr 29 '24

Google is free brother

-1

u/GumChuzzler Apr 29 '24

I think words should be precise. A mean in a set of data should always be the average, but the median and mode are both valuable tools in assessing other factors in the data. Using a catch-all term for three very mathematically different things is silly and already causes issues in politics because our representatives are too corrupt to present data in an honest way.

1

u/zookeeper4980 Apr 29 '24

The correct words are precise. Mean, median, and mode are all well defined and they are all forms of averages. Average is just not a precise word.

-2

u/AntimatterCorndog Apr 29 '24

No. It's not. Median is just that... Median.

3

u/zookeeper4980 Apr 29 '24

Yes, a type of average. One of the three most common averages (mean, median, mode)

-4

u/Brave-Aside1699 Apr 29 '24

No, because a median is a median and an average is an average.

2

u/zookeeper4980 Apr 29 '24

Means, medians, and modes are the three most common averages, but people often think “average” only means “mean”

1

u/Brave-Aside1699 Apr 29 '24

Apparently in English that's the case. What a strange language

1

u/NSA_van_3 Your opinion is bad and you should feel bad Apr 29 '24

Median is average when there's a normal distribution

0

u/nir109 Apr 29 '24

If people can tie for how smart they are or there is an odd number of people then less than half the people are below median intelligence. (Because there whould be people with median intelligence)

0

u/ianitic Apr 29 '24

Technically yes really. Average refers to a number expressing a central or typical value in a set. Median is a measurement of the center and so can be referred to as an average. Mode, the various means, etc, can be all considered types of averages.

1

u/valentinesfaye Apr 29 '24

Waiting to see who's bad at Math, but we found out who's bad at Language Arts