The End of Average
by Todd Rose · first published 2016
64% recommend36% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that averages mislead in fields like education, design, and medicine, using the Air Force cockpit story. It is a clear, engaging read for anyone who wants to see why individual variation matters.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Why don't Meyers-Briggs personality tests really work? Why are HR tests for new employees often meaningless? Why doesn't BMI - body mass index - correlate to actual health or physical fitness? Individuals behave, learn, and develop in different ways, but these unique patterns of human behavior get lost in massive systems that play to average performance and average abilities, instead of individual performance and abilities. These systems made sense almost two centuries ago at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, but in today's globalized digital world they are outdated and inadequate. Yet, e
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There is a great book explaning the philosophy, story and problem of using averages in many fields - "The End of Average" by Todd Rose. [1] I originally found it from the fascinating article on how using averages in the design of military plane cockpit resulted in many pilot deaths. That's the best introduction I've seen…
on “Look at median, and not mean GDP per capita” ↗…lacking with other activities. For a more rational look at the education system and the needs for its reform (towards a more individualized educational experience for each child), I’d recommend: The End of Average - Todd Rose Free To Learn - Peter Grey
on “The Sick History of Public Education” ↗Thank you for sharing. This is the first chapter from Todd Rose's excellent book The End of Average. In the book, he also touches on the fascinating topic of context. For example there is no such thing as a person's average level of aggression - IF I am around my parents I tend to get aggressive, but…
on “How the US Air Force Ditched the Average and Saved Lives” ↗…https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-... resembles Dana Scully of The X-Files. I also enjoyed Todd Rose's book, which examines the history of (mis-)interpretations and (mis-)uses of the "average": The End of Average https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Unlocking-Potential-Embra...
on “How the US Air Force Ditched the Average and Saved Lives” ↗"The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness" by Todd Rose.
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗…we're trying to help with is that lots of places (blogs, websites) say 'this is good for children.' Which could be true (if backed by the research) but that takes an averages approach (I love the book End of Average by Todd Rose.) It sounds a little millenial, but there is no average child and so an approach the uses averages often doesn't work. Our experts get to know the specific family, philosophies and kids,…
on “Launch HN: Trustle (YC W20) – On-demand child development experts for parents” ↗Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us - and How to Know When Not to Trust Them by David H. Freedman - Painfully relevant to the current pandemic. Explains why the experts aren't! The End of Average by Todd Rose - Pulls the curtain(s) aside from education, corporations and the non-science of "scientific management". Why Taylorism continues to dominate corporate and social life today. Explains many…
on “Ask HN: Please suggest some good books you have read recently” ↗Reminds me of The End of Average, [1] a book about human variation. It talks about how the Air Force tried to design a cockpit by averaging various measurements, only to find that their pilots weren't actually average. Your point is…
on “We found no evidence that Bionic Reading has a positive effect on reading speed” ↗…people are stupid. It typically means you value a specific form of intelligence, and are too biased to recognize other forms when they occur in other people. There's a great book by Todd Rose titled The End of Average; great read. Premise is exactly that for centuries, we've measured "intelligence" in such a narrow scope focused on the foundations of industry (reading, writing, arithmetic) often at the expense of…
on “Books on Making and Maintaining Friendships” ↗Somewhat related book on how the concept of average can be misleading and/or detrimental, The End of Average https://search.worldcat.org/title/The-end-of-average-:-how-w...
on “Averaging is a convenient fiction of neuroscience” ↗…“Things like grit and 10,000 hours are mindsets that are very misleading because they are consequences not causes — they are lagging indicators of performance,” said Todd Rose, who is the author of The End of Average, a book that illustrates how averages are flawed in understanding human achievement. If we take grit to be "fire-in-the-belly" I have observed as a parent, mentor/coach of high school and adults and…
on “Is ‘grit’ overrated in explaining student success?” ↗Unfairly or not, the OP does feel like a summary of Todd Rose's own "When U.S. air force discovered the flaw of averages", an excerpt from The End of Average, which you linked there. Rose's article has been strongly upvoted here several times over the years.
on “How the US Air Force Ditched the Average and Saved Lives” ↗Your comment reminds me of the book "The End of Average". His main point is there is no such thing as the "average [blank]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cMXWcME_vQ
on “Why Harvard Business School Is Under Fire” ↗…either.” https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-... On the other hand, maybe the editor of Scientific American being unaware of this is why there’s room for a not so new book, “The End of Average”: ”Yet, as Rose, Ed.M.’01, Ed.D.’07, a lecturer at the Ed School and director of the Mind, Brain, and Education Program, writes in his forthcoming book, The End of Average, from the moment we’re born…
on “The Demise of Scientific American” ↗This is also described in the book "The End of Average" https://www.amazon.com/End-Average-Succeed-Values-Sameness-e...
on “Rose Marie Bentley lived for 99 years with organs in all the wrong places” ↗