No - almost a quarter.
And even if it was most, as long as there were some with a STUPENDOUS reading-age, that'd drag up the average.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 9:29, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

No
that would drag up the mean. The term average is fairly meaningless unless you define how you calculate it. It's this confusion that lets papers make bold statements, such as about house prices, which although correct, are not applicable to what most people would think it means.
(Bazongaloid, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 9:32, Reply)

if you start saying root mean square
people are going to get confused
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 9:34, Reply)

Root mean square!
*runs away in the confusion*
(Bazongaloid, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 9:34, Reply)

Fair enough.
I don't know what's the most depressing interpretation of "average" here: neither the mean, median nor mode is exactly inspiring.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 9:47, Reply)