CONSEQUENCE OF NATIONAL "BAFFLEMENT" OVER THIS PROBLEM
In a file at this Website, "What Is an Average?", I show that arithmetic mean can
misrepresent a set of salaries if one is or more are disproportionately greater than the
others. For this reason, the median is the appropriate average to represent salaries
and other income items.
The National Bafflement at this "average speed" shows that perhaps 99% of the citizens know
only the arithmetic mean as an average and do not know the harmonic mean, and perhaps do not know the median.
This has the consequence that politicians can use this ignorance to trick us. Example: In
October, 2004, CBS Evening News noted that the median salary of 2000 was $39 greater than that in 2004. The wealth of the country has increased by trillions of dollars in thi period, but
"thye average citizen" is $30 poorer. This loss can be disguised by using the arithmetic mean to
make an increase appear to be the case, as distorting as in the "What Is an Average?" file.
