The Most Average Thing in the Universe: A Playful Tour of Averages, Means and Perspective

Short Summary

This video investigates what it means to be average by unpacking central tendency—mean, median and mode—and showing how different definitions can yield different answers. Beginning with everyday examples like average height and the average Dream Team, it expands to the scale of the universe, discussing SI units, the smallest particles, and the largest known star. It even playfully proposes that tardigrades might be the most average things in the universe by size. The takeaway is that averages are powerful but context dependent, and each person sits in the middle of their own observable universe.

Introduction to Averages and Central Tendency

The video opens with a reflection on what it means to be average, arguing that averages are not a single fixed concept but a collection of measures that summarize a group of data. The host introduces the three standard ways to describe central tendency: mean, median and mode, and hints that choosing one over the others can change the answer to questions about what is typical or representative.

Mean, Median and Mode in Practice

The presenter explains that the arithmetic mean is the sum of values divided by the number of values, the classic classroom notion of average. He then contrasts this with the median, the middle value when data are ordered, and the mode, the most frequently occurring value. He emphasizes that data with outliers can distort the mean, while the median and mode can be more robust in skewed distributions. To illustrate, he references calculations of means in sports and demographics, such as the Dream Team example where the mean age is 29, the mean points per game are 121, and the mean game margin is 51.5 points. These examples show how different data shapes produce different central values, which can be more or less informative depending on the question at hand.

How Big and How Small?: Measurements that Define Size

The video then broadens the scope to size and measurement, noting there are seven internationally recognized SI base units, with kilograms measuring mass and meters measuring length. The discussion makes explicit how the base units shape what we consider large or small, and how volume and mass can yield different “averages” of size depending on the base measurement. The host uses the concept of a universal mean to highlight the impracticality of cataloging every object in the universe, showing that what counts as “size” depends on what you choose to measure.

The Smallest to the Largest: From Atoms to Stars

Moving to the micro and macro scales, the host traces the sizes of the smallest and largest things we can quantify. Between atoms, angstroms (10^-10 m) and electrons at roughly 10^-15 m, the transcript notes that quarks are even smaller, around 10^-18 m. For the biggest things, the largest star known is the hypergiantUY Scuti, with a radius about 1700 times that of the Sun and a diameter of roughly 2.4 trillion meters. Using a simple mean between these two extremes, the host arrives at about a millimeter. This playful calculation underscores how the choice of extremes can yield a surprising middle ground, in this case a size that is familiar in everyday objects like a tardigrade.

The Tardigrade Twist: The Most Average Thing?

In a tongue-in-cheek turn, the host proposes tardigrades, the tiny water bears, as the universe’s most average thing by size. He notes that while there is only one Uy Scuti, there are countless quarks, so the most frequent value (the mode) would likely be quarks, given their abundance, whereas the mean would be pulled by outliers like enormous stars. This section emphasizes how different averaging rules (mean vs mode) can tell very different stories about the same universe, illustrating the core point that there is no single “true” average across all of existence.

Averages as Perspective, Not a Verdict

The video wraps up by arguing that what we call average is a matter of perspective. Because data sets can be incomplete or impossible to enumerate in full, there exists a multiverse of possible averages, each telling a different story about a group. The final message is a reminder that we are each in the middle of our own observable universe, and shifts in perspective can change how we view ourselves and the world around us. The presenter invites curiosity and ongoing exploration as the best way to engage with the science of averages.