Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
A is for AVERAGES
Superficial people want to be it. Eccentric people think that it's the bane of all existence. Mathematicians think it's useful.
What am I talking about?
AVERAGES
What does it mean for something to be average?
Let's define it technically first, before we get into any moral discussions, shall we?
The average in statistics is typically referred to as the mean. The mean represents a set of data by showing the value that is most likely to minimize error. It's also known as the expected value, because it represents the value that is most expected if you are to add more data. You get it by adding up any data you have and dividing by the number of data you have. In this example, let's look at a bunch of test scores in a certain English class. They are the numbers you see down here. (85 92 73 84 87 64 96 90 88 71 94) Now add them up, and divide by however many numbers there are. Add them up and you get 924. Count and see there are 11 values. 924 divided by 11 is 84, which is the average score. Now, if a 12th person took the test, how well do you think she would do? Probably close to 84...that's why the average is also called the expected value.
When we say "expected value" we use the word "expected" very loosely. Here's another example. Let's say that we want to know what the average family looks like out of all your friends. You ask them how many brothers and sisters they have in their family, themselves included. Your 7 friends say that they have 2, 3, 5, 1, 0, 3, and 2 members of their generation in their respective families. To find the average, add them up to 16. Divide by 7, and you get that the average is about 2.3. What? How do you have 2.3 people in your family?
It looks like the average might not have a practical meaning of what exactly to expect, but that's why the mean is nothing more than a statistic. It represents a set of data, but the data is going to vary. It won't all be equal to the mean-- in fact, sometimes it's impossible for a value to be exactly average. In most cases, it's NOT POSSIBLE to be average. It may be possible to be close to average, but not exactly.
So what does it mean to be average? Most times, it's impossible to be average. And even when it is possible, it's very rare for something to be exactly equal to it.
But what does it mean for a person to be average? Is it possible? Are you one of the extremely rare people that is exactly average? Would you want to be average?
What am I talking about?
AVERAGES
What does it mean for something to be average?
Let's define it technically first, before we get into any moral discussions, shall we?
The average in statistics is typically referred to as the mean. The mean represents a set of data by showing the value that is most likely to minimize error. It's also known as the expected value, because it represents the value that is most expected if you are to add more data. You get it by adding up any data you have and dividing by the number of data you have. In this example, let's look at a bunch of test scores in a certain English class. They are the numbers you see down here. (85 92 73 84 87 64 96 90 88 71 94) Now add them up, and divide by however many numbers there are. Add them up and you get 924. Count and see there are 11 values. 924 divided by 11 is 84, which is the average score. Now, if a 12th person took the test, how well do you think she would do? Probably close to 84...that's why the average is also called the expected value.
When we say "expected value" we use the word "expected" very loosely. Here's another example. Let's say that we want to know what the average family looks like out of all your friends. You ask them how many brothers and sisters they have in their family, themselves included. Your 7 friends say that they have 2, 3, 5, 1, 0, 3, and 2 members of their generation in their respective families. To find the average, add them up to 16. Divide by 7, and you get that the average is about 2.3. What? How do you have 2.3 people in your family?
It looks like the average might not have a practical meaning of what exactly to expect, but that's why the mean is nothing more than a statistic. It represents a set of data, but the data is going to vary. It won't all be equal to the mean-- in fact, sometimes it's impossible for a value to be exactly average. In most cases, it's NOT POSSIBLE to be average. It may be possible to be close to average, but not exactly.
So what does it mean to be average? Most times, it's impossible to be average. And even when it is possible, it's very rare for something to be exactly equal to it.
But what does it mean for a person to be average? Is it possible? Are you one of the extremely rare people that is exactly average? Would you want to be average?
Friday, January 14, 2011
B is for BATHROOMS
Bathrooms are the most awkward place in any public building. I'll talk about the unspoken protocols of the men's bathroom, and the mysteries of those of the women.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A is for AVERAGES
What's up folks! Today's video is about AVERAGES. It will come in five parts:
-Mathematical definition of averages (don't worry, nothing too complex)
-An example of what an average really is
-Averages in relation to weather
-Averages in relation to people
-Why would someone want to be 'average'?
I reassure you that the math part of the video will be short and easy to understand. I feel the need to reassure you because I am a HUGE nerd and engineering student...so it's imperative that I don't ramble on too long about numbers...because I love numbers.
Most of the video will be social commentary, as will be the case with all the paulosophy videos.
Look for it tomorrow! The vlog from yesterday is in the works.
BYE Y'ALL
-Mathematical definition of averages (don't worry, nothing too complex)
-An example of what an average really is
-Averages in relation to weather
-Averages in relation to people
-Why would someone want to be 'average'?
I reassure you that the math part of the video will be short and easy to understand. I feel the need to reassure you because I am a HUGE nerd and engineering student...so it's imperative that I don't ramble on too long about numbers...because I love numbers.
Most of the video will be social commentary, as will be the case with all the paulosophy videos.
Look for it tomorrow! The vlog from yesterday is in the works.
BYE Y'ALL
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New channel added!
OH MY LORDY LORDY LORD.
It took me a whopping SIX tries to do it, but I finally uploaded the first video of 2011 to Youtube. Three times, Youtube gave me an "unknown error," and the other two, Windows Update restarted my computer before the video could finish uploading. WONDERFUL! Yes, I did finally figure out how to make Windows Update stop restarting my computer. I RESTART THE COMPUTER WHEN I DAMN WELL WANT TO!
Here are the rules for 2011:
Each and every week, the following videos must be created AT A MINIMUM:
Two personal vlogs, recorded on Tuesday and Thursday
An episode of Paulosophy published on Saturday.
Personal vlogs must be uploaded by 6pm the following day (so Wednesday and Friday).
Additional videos may be added to supplement these three weekly videos, especially Musical Monday videos, in which I bang on the piano.
I intend to stick with this plan until the end of 2011.
Paulosophy is a video in which I rant about important topics. The letter that the topic starts with shall advance forward once through the alphabet with each successive video. Since there are 26 letters in the alphabet and 52 weeks in a year, I shall completely pass through the alphabet exactly twice.
The proposed topics for Paulosophy are shown in the post below. They are subject to change, but I don't anticipate that they will change all that much.
AND THERE IT IS, SET IN STONE. This first week was a fluke because of the goddamn persnickety editing program and my computer being a general dirtbag. BUT NOW I HAVE THE BASICS DOWN so hopefully no more technical difficulties from here on out.
PAYCE
It took me a whopping SIX tries to do it, but I finally uploaded the first video of 2011 to Youtube. Three times, Youtube gave me an "unknown error," and the other two, Windows Update restarted my computer before the video could finish uploading. WONDERFUL! Yes, I did finally figure out how to make Windows Update stop restarting my computer. I RESTART THE COMPUTER WHEN I DAMN WELL WANT TO!
Here are the rules for 2011:
Each and every week, the following videos must be created AT A MINIMUM:
Two personal vlogs, recorded on Tuesday and Thursday
An episode of Paulosophy published on Saturday.
Personal vlogs must be uploaded by 6pm the following day (so Wednesday and Friday).
Additional videos may be added to supplement these three weekly videos, especially Musical Monday videos, in which I bang on the piano.
I intend to stick with this plan until the end of 2011.
Paulosophy is a video in which I rant about important topics. The letter that the topic starts with shall advance forward once through the alphabet with each successive video. Since there are 26 letters in the alphabet and 52 weeks in a year, I shall completely pass through the alphabet exactly twice.
The proposed topics for Paulosophy are shown in the post below. They are subject to change, but I don't anticipate that they will change all that much.
AND THERE IT IS, SET IN STONE. This first week was a fluke because of the goddamn persnickety editing program and my computer being a general dirtbag. BUT NOW I HAVE THE BASICS DOWN so hopefully no more technical difficulties from here on out.
PAYCE
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
List of Topics
I am going to make a new show called "Paulosophy," where I rant about a topic at least once a week. Here's how it works:
The first video's topic will start with the letter A. Each successive video will have a different topic starting with the next letter of the alphabet, so the second video's topic will start with B, the third's will start with C, and so on. When I reach the end of the alphabet, I start back at A again. I already have topics for the first two cycles through the alphabet (that's 52 topics, people)!
Here's the list (subject to subtle changes):
Averages
Bathrooms
Compensation
Drivers
Education
Friends
Green
Hindsight
Inches
Justice
Kindergarten
Love
Motivation
Nationalism
Observation
Paranoia
Questions
Rationality
Selfishness
Thrills
Understanding
Variety
Wishes
Xenophobia
Youth
Zealotry
Apples
Bloomingtons
Create
Decisions
Edward Cullen
Fantasy
Gloves (vs Mittens)
Hipsters
Interests
Joy
Kelsey
Lost
Math
Nerds
Obsessive
Pokemon
Quarks
Rage
Small Things
Tosha
Underwear
Vietnam
Winter
Xylophones
Yellow Fever
Zipper
I haven't yet decided whether to put these rants on a new channel or to keep them on the paulthemapguy channel, but I do know that I've decided to go back to the paulthemapguy channel for everything else. My main channel is going back to paulthemapguy, since I've mucked up paullikesmaps with a lot of stuff of which I am not particularly proud. I've made most of the videos on paulthemapguy private, except for a few notable ones. I'm going to keep moving with that channel, trying to keep everything a bit more professional and well-crafted.
The first video's topic will start with the letter A. Each successive video will have a different topic starting with the next letter of the alphabet, so the second video's topic will start with B, the third's will start with C, and so on. When I reach the end of the alphabet, I start back at A again. I already have topics for the first two cycles through the alphabet (that's 52 topics, people)!
Here's the list (subject to subtle changes):
Averages
Bathrooms
Compensation
Drivers
Education
Friends
Green
Hindsight
Inches
Justice
Kindergarten
Love
Motivation
Nationalism
Observation
Paranoia
Questions
Rationality
Selfishness
Thrills
Understanding
Variety
Wishes
Xenophobia
Youth
Zealotry
Apples
Bloomingtons
Create
Decisions
Edward Cullen
Fantasy
Gloves (vs Mittens)
Hipsters
Interests
Joy
Kelsey
Lost
Math
Nerds
Obsessive
Pokemon
Quarks
Rage
Small Things
Tosha
Underwear
Vietnam
Winter
Xylophones
Yellow Fever
Zipper
I haven't yet decided whether to put these rants on a new channel or to keep them on the paulthemapguy channel, but I do know that I've decided to go back to the paulthemapguy channel for everything else. My main channel is going back to paulthemapguy, since I've mucked up paullikesmaps with a lot of stuff of which I am not particularly proud. I've made most of the videos on paulthemapguy private, except for a few notable ones. I'm going to keep moving with that channel, trying to keep everything a bit more professional and well-crafted.
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