Classic nadin - DUmmies Receive Instruction On Statistics

[GOBUCKS]

This thread was brought over yesterday, but later it blossomed into a huge statistical kerfunkle, with nutcase nadin nearly coming fist to cuffs with a host of DUmmies.

It's remarkable because in this case it wasn't the usual pack of nadin critics vs. the nutcase and her nadinettes, it's one unknown unterprimitiven after another. These people are pulling their hair out trying to explain the difference between "average/mean" and "median" but it's like explaining multiplication tables to your goldfish.

Over and over it's like "Who's on first?" "I don't know." "No, he's on third."

This statistical discussion represents the crazy bald dwarf at her obtuse, arrogant best:

Sat Oct 26, 2013, 04:28 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)
Average monthly benefit for retirees on Social Security $1,230.
Chained CPI.

Discuss

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023927141

Response to grilled onions (Reply #7)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 04:56 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

9. Average means exactly that
that half will get more, and half will get less.

The world's foremost authority offers a nadinesque definition of "average", and we're off to the races:

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #9)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 05:06 PM
Egalitarian Thug (10,126 posts)

14. That's not what average means. Thank you for demonstrating the biggest problem we have
in creating an educated and engaged citizenry, which is the only way for Democracy to work

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #9)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 08:18 PM
PoliticAverse (7,603 posts)

33. 'average' doesn't imply half get more, half get less, that would specifically be the 'median'.
It's apparent they are using the 'arithmetic mean' for the $1,230. figure, since that's what they are using in this table:
 
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/

If you think nadin will understand "arithmetic mean", you're dreaming.

She thinks an arithmetic mean is a bully in math class.

Response to PoliticAverse (Reply #33)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 08:23 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

35. You might want to argue with Social Security
As it is them also using the term

If we were to be far more mathematically correct, it is the mean, Regardless, even the SS administartion uses average
 
Here you go from their site.

Average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker
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What is the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker?

Response to dsc (Reply #36)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 08:32 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

37. As I said somewhere else
We could be more accurate, if you will. But colloquially it is used this way.

Most people are not familiar with statistics. Mean is a statistical term.

No where in this whole kerfunkle does she recognize the existence of the term "median".

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #35)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 10:18 PM
magical thyme (5,203 posts)

38. there is nothing to argue with. The SS administration is using the mean, not the median
They are not using the "colloquial" definition you referred to. They are using the mathematical mean. Average is normally used as a synonym for mean, not median or mode.

Response to magical thyme (Reply #38)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 10:34 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

40. And they are using the word average
Unless I missed something.

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #40)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 08:01 AM
magical thyme (5,203 posts)

49. they are using the word average as a synonym for mean
Synonyms are words that have the same meaning.

Average within the context they are using it would be the total dollars payed divided by the total number of recipients.

No such thing as "median".

Response to magical thyme (Reply #49)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 09:57 AM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

52. Which is the point I have been making to the grammar police
There are good reasons why the SS Administration does not use mean, while technically more accurate, it confuses people.

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #52)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 10:02 AM
muriel_volestrangler (68,204 posts)

54. You appear to be the only one confused
They said 'average', for the most common meaning - ie 'mean'. You got confused, and thought they mean 'median'.

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Original post)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 04:57 PM
hobbit709 (28,459 posts)

11. Mine's $300 a month less.
I wouldn't shut up when threatened with Ft. Leavenworth. I won't shut up now. Make me laugh at you-put me on ignore.

Response to hobbit709 (Reply #11)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 05:00 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

13. That is why the number is average
half get more, half get less. Anytime our critters in DC start screaming grand bargain, chained CPI or what have you, they need to be thrown that in their faces.
 
Fun fact, they all make above the contribution cap. Staff not so much, but critters do

.

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #13)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 05:19 PM
hedgehog (31,767 posts)

17. hi Nadin! I think you're running up against the difference between average and median.

If ten people get $100 and four people get $1000, then the average would be $357.14, way more than some are getting, way less than the rest. The median ( I think) would be $100. I've always been a little fuzzy on median, but it's an attempt to represent the most typical number.

 

Response to hedgehog (Reply #17)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 05:21 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

18. I am using the colloquial defintion of the term
If we were to be far more mathematically correct, it is the mean, Regardless, even the SS administartion uses average

No such thing as "median".

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #18)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 10:21 PM
magical thyme (5,203 posts)

39. regardless of how *you* are using the term, the SS administration is using the word average
as a synonym for mean. When they say the average benefit was $1230, they are *not* saying that half get more and half get less. They are dividing the total payout by the number of recipients.

Response to magical thyme (Reply #39)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 10:36 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

41. Did I miss the word *average* in the SS site?

Updated 10/11/2013 10:29 AM | ID# 13
Average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #41)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 11:17 PM
Yo_Mama (4,606 posts)

42. Yes, but average does not mean that half make over and half make under
Seriously, it doesn't. And that's highly relevant to the discussion.

More often averages in such lists are higher than the median (half over, half under), which is an important point here.

Response to Yo_Mama (Reply #42)
Sat Oct 26, 2013, 11:49 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

44. The SS system does not use mean
For one simple reason, statistics is not something people are familiar with. I know this is a difficult point to bring across, but that is the truth. Once the vast majority of Americans take a statistics course we can be that precise. We don't live in that world.

But continue with the semantic argument. In popular understanding it is what it is.
 
And I am sorry, if the SS administration uses average, I will continue to use that word to explain this.

No such thing as "median".

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #44)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 12:31 AM
Yo_Mama (4,606 posts)

47. It's not semantics - your math is wrong
They use the word average, which is the mathematical mean. Average/mean DOES NOT MEAN HALF UNDER AND HALF OVER.

Response to Yo_Mama (Reply #47)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 12:41 AM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

48. Go argue with the SS administration.

I am sorry it's hard, they mean it that way.

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #48)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 08:04 AM
magical thyme (5,203 posts)

50. No they do not mean "average" as a synonum for "median"
They use "average" as a synonym for "mean."

There is no reason to argue with the SS administration. You are misunderstanding how they are using the word average.

Cousin nadin's resume needs to be updated to add "statistician".

[Delmar]

If the bullies think that they're going to get nadin to admit that they have outsmarted her, they've got another thing coming.

[Skul]

If the bullies think that they're going to get nadin to admit that they have outsmarted her, they've got another thing coming.

Durn tootin'!!
>PLONK<

 

[BattleHymn]

Over and over it's like "Who's on first?" "I don't know." "No, he's on third."

Doesn't her real name even contain "Abbott", as in Nadine Abbott?
 



It's either that, or she's a direct descendent of Ma and Pa Kettle.


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgdPmzWd8bg[/youtube]

[franksolich]

Great find!

And thanks for having the fortitude to wander into a mess the cousin made.

[GOBUCKS]

Doesn't her real name even contain "Abbott", as in Nadine Abbott?

Her married surname is Abbott, taken from the addled submarine rider who will forever regret applying the philosophy of "any port in a storm".

Her first name is Nadin, with no "e", in the custom of some Central European hellhole where her family originated.

The only example of self-deprecation she's ever shown is in using the lower case "nadin" in her username.

[ChuckJ]

Her married surname is Abbott, taken from the addled submarine rider who will forever regret applying the philosophy of "any port in a storm".

Her first name is Nadin, with no "e", in the custom of some Central European hellhole where her family originated.

The only example of self-deprecation she's ever shown is in using the lower case "nadin" in her username.

She probably thought she was using all upper case.

[franksolich]

Don't forget--there's a new special award this year in the contest for Top DUmmies of 2013, the "Nadin Abbott award," the "nadin."

It's given the primitive who most thinks he or she's smarter than God.

[JakeStyle]

She is something else.  In almost every thread that she participates in, she makes a comment implying that she has vast knowledge on the subject but is withholding it to their detriment due to the threat of a bully attack.  She just doesn't feel safe at the DUmp anymore.  
Here she is lecturing the DUmmies on the need to use precise language when posting.

nadinbrzezinski (127,444 posts)
30. Well they referenced Snowden

And I am not putting words in your mouth. It is derived from what you wrote in the above exchange you had with the OP. It is a logical conclusion. You accepted the story as possible until the English language top tier papers went there.

I am sorry if you did not intend that conclusion, but it was derived from your own writing. On the web we lack visual cues, which are, iirc, 90% of human communication. Why I try to be very precise. But to each their own. Now the story is getting even worst. So there is where we are.

Suffice it to say that this, to be extremely precise with the language, so we avoid misunderstandings, this is a major diplomatic incident. In olden days it could even be treated as an act of war. We are a Nuclear armed power, so skinning this kitty becomes difficult for a second tier power.

So we are clear.

That is where we are. The OP gave you links, plenty of them. I will save the link to the getting worst part. Suffice it to say it is in GD.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023913865#post30

[Ogre]

Suffice it to say, Nad's innate ability to bring out the average mean in her bullies is one of the constants in the primitive universe.

[jukin]

Given today's Orwellian definition of "expert" nadainthebrain is a true statistics expert.

[GOBUCKS]

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #9)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 01:18 PM
Dreamer Tatum (7,995 posts)

55. Average means nothing like that.
You should consider your audience before holding yourself up as an expert on everything. It would save you from looking like an idiot.

[dane]

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #9)
Sun Oct 27, 2013, 01:18 PM
Dreamer Tatum (7,995 posts)

55. Average means nothing like that.
You should consider your audience before holding yourself up as an expert on everything. It would save you from looking like an idiot.

That ship sailed a long time ago.

[GOBUCKS]

Well, she isn't really wrong about that "average" business, is she?

She considered a group of two, herself and Warren Buffett.

Their average net worth is is several billion dollars.

Half of them are worth more, half are worth less.

Wallah.

[BannedFromDU]

     Hey Nadin -


     The average human being is Chinese, female, and about 19 years old.

     So are you above average, or below?

[NHSparky]

Dear Nads,

http://math.about.com/od/statistics/a/MeanMedian.htm

Now STFU and apologize for being an idiot.

[GOBUCKS]

Dear Nads,

http://math.about.com/od/statistics/a/MeanMedian.htm

Now STFU and apologize for being an idiot.

She has already addressed your concern:

Sun Oct 27, 2013, 12:41 AM
nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

48. Go argue with the SS administration.

I am sorry it's hard, they mean it that way.

You welcome.

[franksolich]

Earlier today, I was reading a book by Lion Feuchtwanger.

I don't expect most would know who Lion Feuchtwanger was, but if nadin appreciated her forebearers more, she'd know who he was.  But as we all know, the cousin's smarter and wiser than all of 5,000 or so years of accumulated Judaic cerebrality and lore, and so she doesn't pay attention to things like this.

Anyway, he kept on using a term, "polyhistor," to describe an Austrian.

I'd never seen "polyhistor" before, and from the context of what Feuchtwanger wrote, I assumed it was something faux, superficial, shallow, whatnot, and would be good in using to describe nadin.

Much to my surprise, it means a person with a broad, comprehensive knowledge of many things.

And here, I'd been hoping to use it to describe her, but now knowing the meaning, alas I can't.

[Celtic Rose]

This is what, 4th grade math?  The concept of a mean is not that difficult, unless you are being willfully stupid 

[GOBUCKS]

I'd never seen "polyhistor" before, and from the context of what Feuchtwanger wrote, I assumed it was something faux, superficial, shallow, whatnot, and would be good in using to describe nadin.

Much to my surprise, it means a person with a broad, comprehensive knowledge of many things.

And here, I'd been hoping to use it to describe her, but now knowing the meaning, alas I can't.

Just guessing at the etymology, maybe you could refer to your crazy bald cousin as an "ahistor", someone with comprehensive knowledge of nothing.

[Celtic Rose]

Just guessing at the etymology, maybe you could refer to your crazy bald cousin as an "ahistor", someone with comprehensive knowledge of nothing.

Technically Agnostic means one who knows nothing. 

[Ptarmigan]

Nadin is now a statistician expert. 

[dutch508]

I swear to God that nadin is really Frank's mole.

[GOBUCKS]

I swear to God that nadin is really Frank's mole.

Impossible. But maybe coach is nadin's mole. Has anyone ever seen the two of them at the same time?

[Rebel]

nadinbrzezinski (127,439 posts)

13. That is why the number is average
half get more, half get less.

 


Nads, you have 10 people. 1 makes a million a year, the other 9 make 50,000. Average is 145,000. Please, do explain to me how half are getting less and half are getting more.  

EDIT: I see a fellow DUmmie already explained it.