On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:24:26 +0300, Eero Ahonen wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:06:01 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>> 
>>> Worrying fact: 50% of the population has below-average intelligence.
>>> (!!!)
> 
> So... If we have 4 men, with intelligences 1, 8, 9 and 9, the average is
> (1+8+9+9)/4=6,75, so 75% of men are more intelligent than average person
> (who, if he existed, would be over 6 times as intelligent as the dumpest
> one).

I think you just broke my brain. ;-)

>> LOL, but mathematically sound.  More worrying is the 80% who think
>> they're above average drivers.
> 
> Measuring a best driver is very relative. 

Absolutely; that's kinda the point of that old joke. :-)

> My opinion is that there's a
> triangle, having endpoints of speed, economy and safety. If the car
> won't move, you're safe and economic, but you're not getting anywhere.
> If you'll take a risk, you'll lose safety and economy and gain speed.
> And ie. when overtaking someone increasing speed might gain you safety,
> but it'll reduce the economy. So basically you can't have 100% of all
> three of them - increasing one decreases at least one other. People have
> different *opinions* of what's the best placement on this map, ie. what
> combination of the three they are heading for, so it's very easy to
> think that "I'm better than the average" for 80+%, since the goal is
> different. Who's the best driver for some (good speed, high safety,
> average economy for example) is the worst driver for some (who would
> prefer great economy, average safety and average speed).

That's an interesting perspective - I like the way you're thinking here.

> In my opinion, five nines of safety (99,999%), average economy and
> good/stable speed is the best spot to go for. But that's my *opinion*,
> not The Only Real Truth.

I would go with that as well.

Jim

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