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Ah I see, apologies, I understand your concern. If we define 'big' and 'small' as being above or below the average (mean) value, then you're quite right that it
by fergussimpson 5y ago
Ah I see, apologies, I understand your concern.
If we define 'big' and 'small' as being above or below the average (mean) value, then you're quite right that it breaks down for many cases, like the one you gave. But if we define 'big' and 'small' relative to the middle (median) value of the distribution, then it becomes a robust result. Hope that helps!
- user-the-name 5y agoBut if you do that, it becomes a truism, and I do not think it actually gives you any useful information any longer.
- fergussimpson 5y agoJust so we're clear, you no longer consider this to be a fallacy if by 'high' we use the median as a reference point? "I am more likely to have been born in a high population country than a low population country" And you don't think that's useful?