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Would it be believable to defy demographics in a story?
Where should I go with this short story?How can I make believable motivations for antagonists?How to write believable “Man vs self” plotsWould a redemption story be a coming of age plotWould it be wise to make the turning point of a story coincidental?What would a FtM transman's, who was born in 1990, life be like?organising complex networksWhy would someone in an apocalypse travel with a person who is totally dependent on them?What would you expect from travel story?How long would it reasonably take for a character to be persuaded he is not in danger?
My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data?
How many of the following deviations can I get away with?
- A female character marries an older guy and have a child before she's 23. Assume this happened in the early nineties (we had Palm PDAs then, not smartphones).
- A male character from a well off mainstream family marries and has a child before he's 22.
- a 34-year-old male to enlist in the military (maximum is 35 for Army, 34 for navy and marines).
- A 47-year-old man to have two consecutive children. That is happening in the nineties.
- Finally, a female character falls in love and is to be engaged at age of 20.
characters plot realism
|
show 9 more comments
My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data?
How many of the following deviations can I get away with?
- A female character marries an older guy and have a child before she's 23. Assume this happened in the early nineties (we had Palm PDAs then, not smartphones).
- A male character from a well off mainstream family marries and has a child before he's 22.
- a 34-year-old male to enlist in the military (maximum is 35 for Army, 34 for navy and marines).
- A 47-year-old man to have two consecutive children. That is happening in the nineties.
- Finally, a female character falls in love and is to be engaged at age of 20.
characters plot realism
8
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
11
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
3
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
6
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
1
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago
|
show 9 more comments
My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data?
How many of the following deviations can I get away with?
- A female character marries an older guy and have a child before she's 23. Assume this happened in the early nineties (we had Palm PDAs then, not smartphones).
- A male character from a well off mainstream family marries and has a child before he's 22.
- a 34-year-old male to enlist in the military (maximum is 35 for Army, 34 for navy and marines).
- A 47-year-old man to have two consecutive children. That is happening in the nineties.
- Finally, a female character falls in love and is to be engaged at age of 20.
characters plot realism
My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data?
How many of the following deviations can I get away with?
- A female character marries an older guy and have a child before she's 23. Assume this happened in the early nineties (we had Palm PDAs then, not smartphones).
- A male character from a well off mainstream family marries and has a child before he's 22.
- a 34-year-old male to enlist in the military (maximum is 35 for Army, 34 for navy and marines).
- A 47-year-old man to have two consecutive children. That is happening in the nineties.
- Finally, a female character falls in love and is to be engaged at age of 20.
characters plot realism
characters plot realism
edited Mar 18 at 2:06
imatowrite
asked Mar 17 at 23:06
imatowriteimatowrite
968225
968225
8
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
11
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
3
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
6
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
1
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago
|
show 9 more comments
8
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
11
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
3
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
6
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
1
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago
8
8
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
11
11
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
3
3
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
6
6
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
1
1
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago
|
show 9 more comments
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
The first scenario is perfectly reasonable. The young woman might be urged to wait as she is so young, but the heart wants what the heart wants. A cousin of mine recently married a woman nineteen years his junior after dating a few years. Another couple I know, the age difference is more extreme and they are likewise a perfect match.
When I was twenty a mature student proposed to me - I said no, not because of the age difference, which never troubled me, but because it was a shock that he asked and clearly I was not at a point in my life when it seemed apt.
The main objection that friends and family might have to either of those young people marrying would be will they continue their education and attain their dreams?
The mature recruit might need an impetus such as job loss to explain the late enlistment.
Middle aged men siring children is hardly news. You could use them all.
add a comment |
The norm is the average range. None of your examples are outside the norm, meaning they're all things people wouldn't think were unusual. You seem to be asking "do I have to write characters who are in the center of the average range?" The answer to that is "no."
All of your examples are about age and age has never been a very exciting deviation, except when it is extreme (and maybe not even then). Marriage between people in different decades of their lives has been quite common for a very long time.
My great grandfather had (at least) 4 children with his wife. Three months after she died he married again. This was in 1893 and his second wife was my great grandmother. He was 42 and she was 21. They had (at least) 5 children. I'm sure nobody batted an eyelash at any of this.
Some people marry young, some marry old, some don't marry at all. Some couples are the same age, some are very different in age. Some people start new careers when they're older than the usual career-starting age.
Demographics are important and give you a sense of the scene. But they tell you nothing about individuals. Individuals do things on their own schedule. They don't check the charts to make sure it's okay. While it's true that people tend to follow the crowd, enough people don't that it really isn't unusual at all.
add a comment |
Demographics is statistics. Statistics never defines individual cases. No single case can 'defy' statistics.
Being beliveable is another thing though. By that we could mean 'too improbable'. But even then a single interaction doesn't say much. If you need the situation to be like this, go ahead and do it. You can even make a point of it. Say, if a character lives in Detroit and never speaks to a black person over the course of the book, that would be 'too improbable'. Yet if you write it that way, perhaps it will tell us something about that person rather than about the author's ignorance of demographics?
Anyway, in your particular examples nothing strikes me as too odd.
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
add a comment |
These all read as totally normal situations aside from the 34 year old military enlistment--there would need to be a compelling motivation there.
New contributor
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
add a comment |
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The first scenario is perfectly reasonable. The young woman might be urged to wait as she is so young, but the heart wants what the heart wants. A cousin of mine recently married a woman nineteen years his junior after dating a few years. Another couple I know, the age difference is more extreme and they are likewise a perfect match.
When I was twenty a mature student proposed to me - I said no, not because of the age difference, which never troubled me, but because it was a shock that he asked and clearly I was not at a point in my life when it seemed apt.
The main objection that friends and family might have to either of those young people marrying would be will they continue their education and attain their dreams?
The mature recruit might need an impetus such as job loss to explain the late enlistment.
Middle aged men siring children is hardly news. You could use them all.
add a comment |
The first scenario is perfectly reasonable. The young woman might be urged to wait as she is so young, but the heart wants what the heart wants. A cousin of mine recently married a woman nineteen years his junior after dating a few years. Another couple I know, the age difference is more extreme and they are likewise a perfect match.
When I was twenty a mature student proposed to me - I said no, not because of the age difference, which never troubled me, but because it was a shock that he asked and clearly I was not at a point in my life when it seemed apt.
The main objection that friends and family might have to either of those young people marrying would be will they continue their education and attain their dreams?
The mature recruit might need an impetus such as job loss to explain the late enlistment.
Middle aged men siring children is hardly news. You could use them all.
add a comment |
The first scenario is perfectly reasonable. The young woman might be urged to wait as she is so young, but the heart wants what the heart wants. A cousin of mine recently married a woman nineteen years his junior after dating a few years. Another couple I know, the age difference is more extreme and they are likewise a perfect match.
When I was twenty a mature student proposed to me - I said no, not because of the age difference, which never troubled me, but because it was a shock that he asked and clearly I was not at a point in my life when it seemed apt.
The main objection that friends and family might have to either of those young people marrying would be will they continue their education and attain their dreams?
The mature recruit might need an impetus such as job loss to explain the late enlistment.
Middle aged men siring children is hardly news. You could use them all.
The first scenario is perfectly reasonable. The young woman might be urged to wait as she is so young, but the heart wants what the heart wants. A cousin of mine recently married a woman nineteen years his junior after dating a few years. Another couple I know, the age difference is more extreme and they are likewise a perfect match.
When I was twenty a mature student proposed to me - I said no, not because of the age difference, which never troubled me, but because it was a shock that he asked and clearly I was not at a point in my life when it seemed apt.
The main objection that friends and family might have to either of those young people marrying would be will they continue their education and attain their dreams?
The mature recruit might need an impetus such as job loss to explain the late enlistment.
Middle aged men siring children is hardly news. You could use them all.
answered Mar 18 at 0:27
RasdashanRasdashan
7,9941152
7,9941152
add a comment |
add a comment |
The norm is the average range. None of your examples are outside the norm, meaning they're all things people wouldn't think were unusual. You seem to be asking "do I have to write characters who are in the center of the average range?" The answer to that is "no."
All of your examples are about age and age has never been a very exciting deviation, except when it is extreme (and maybe not even then). Marriage between people in different decades of their lives has been quite common for a very long time.
My great grandfather had (at least) 4 children with his wife. Three months after she died he married again. This was in 1893 and his second wife was my great grandmother. He was 42 and she was 21. They had (at least) 5 children. I'm sure nobody batted an eyelash at any of this.
Some people marry young, some marry old, some don't marry at all. Some couples are the same age, some are very different in age. Some people start new careers when they're older than the usual career-starting age.
Demographics are important and give you a sense of the scene. But they tell you nothing about individuals. Individuals do things on their own schedule. They don't check the charts to make sure it's okay. While it's true that people tend to follow the crowd, enough people don't that it really isn't unusual at all.
add a comment |
The norm is the average range. None of your examples are outside the norm, meaning they're all things people wouldn't think were unusual. You seem to be asking "do I have to write characters who are in the center of the average range?" The answer to that is "no."
All of your examples are about age and age has never been a very exciting deviation, except when it is extreme (and maybe not even then). Marriage between people in different decades of their lives has been quite common for a very long time.
My great grandfather had (at least) 4 children with his wife. Three months after she died he married again. This was in 1893 and his second wife was my great grandmother. He was 42 and she was 21. They had (at least) 5 children. I'm sure nobody batted an eyelash at any of this.
Some people marry young, some marry old, some don't marry at all. Some couples are the same age, some are very different in age. Some people start new careers when they're older than the usual career-starting age.
Demographics are important and give you a sense of the scene. But they tell you nothing about individuals. Individuals do things on their own schedule. They don't check the charts to make sure it's okay. While it's true that people tend to follow the crowd, enough people don't that it really isn't unusual at all.
add a comment |
The norm is the average range. None of your examples are outside the norm, meaning they're all things people wouldn't think were unusual. You seem to be asking "do I have to write characters who are in the center of the average range?" The answer to that is "no."
All of your examples are about age and age has never been a very exciting deviation, except when it is extreme (and maybe not even then). Marriage between people in different decades of their lives has been quite common for a very long time.
My great grandfather had (at least) 4 children with his wife. Three months after she died he married again. This was in 1893 and his second wife was my great grandmother. He was 42 and she was 21. They had (at least) 5 children. I'm sure nobody batted an eyelash at any of this.
Some people marry young, some marry old, some don't marry at all. Some couples are the same age, some are very different in age. Some people start new careers when they're older than the usual career-starting age.
Demographics are important and give you a sense of the scene. But they tell you nothing about individuals. Individuals do things on their own schedule. They don't check the charts to make sure it's okay. While it's true that people tend to follow the crowd, enough people don't that it really isn't unusual at all.
The norm is the average range. None of your examples are outside the norm, meaning they're all things people wouldn't think were unusual. You seem to be asking "do I have to write characters who are in the center of the average range?" The answer to that is "no."
All of your examples are about age and age has never been a very exciting deviation, except when it is extreme (and maybe not even then). Marriage between people in different decades of their lives has been quite common for a very long time.
My great grandfather had (at least) 4 children with his wife. Three months after she died he married again. This was in 1893 and his second wife was my great grandmother. He was 42 and she was 21. They had (at least) 5 children. I'm sure nobody batted an eyelash at any of this.
Some people marry young, some marry old, some don't marry at all. Some couples are the same age, some are very different in age. Some people start new careers when they're older than the usual career-starting age.
Demographics are important and give you a sense of the scene. But they tell you nothing about individuals. Individuals do things on their own schedule. They don't check the charts to make sure it's okay. While it's true that people tend to follow the crowd, enough people don't that it really isn't unusual at all.
answered Mar 18 at 1:47
CynCyn
14.5k13272
14.5k13272
add a comment |
add a comment |
Demographics is statistics. Statistics never defines individual cases. No single case can 'defy' statistics.
Being beliveable is another thing though. By that we could mean 'too improbable'. But even then a single interaction doesn't say much. If you need the situation to be like this, go ahead and do it. You can even make a point of it. Say, if a character lives in Detroit and never speaks to a black person over the course of the book, that would be 'too improbable'. Yet if you write it that way, perhaps it will tell us something about that person rather than about the author's ignorance of demographics?
Anyway, in your particular examples nothing strikes me as too odd.
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
add a comment |
Demographics is statistics. Statistics never defines individual cases. No single case can 'defy' statistics.
Being beliveable is another thing though. By that we could mean 'too improbable'. But even then a single interaction doesn't say much. If you need the situation to be like this, go ahead and do it. You can even make a point of it. Say, if a character lives in Detroit and never speaks to a black person over the course of the book, that would be 'too improbable'. Yet if you write it that way, perhaps it will tell us something about that person rather than about the author's ignorance of demographics?
Anyway, in your particular examples nothing strikes me as too odd.
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
add a comment |
Demographics is statistics. Statistics never defines individual cases. No single case can 'defy' statistics.
Being beliveable is another thing though. By that we could mean 'too improbable'. But even then a single interaction doesn't say much. If you need the situation to be like this, go ahead and do it. You can even make a point of it. Say, if a character lives in Detroit and never speaks to a black person over the course of the book, that would be 'too improbable'. Yet if you write it that way, perhaps it will tell us something about that person rather than about the author's ignorance of demographics?
Anyway, in your particular examples nothing strikes me as too odd.
Demographics is statistics. Statistics never defines individual cases. No single case can 'defy' statistics.
Being beliveable is another thing though. By that we could mean 'too improbable'. But even then a single interaction doesn't say much. If you need the situation to be like this, go ahead and do it. You can even make a point of it. Say, if a character lives in Detroit and never speaks to a black person over the course of the book, that would be 'too improbable'. Yet if you write it that way, perhaps it will tell us something about that person rather than about the author's ignorance of demographics?
Anyway, in your particular examples nothing strikes me as too odd.
answered Mar 18 at 0:11
ZeusZeus
2905
2905
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
add a comment |
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
5
5
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
If they're living in Detroit the city, perhaps, but the Detroit metropolitan area is the most racially segregated in the United States. If they're living in one of the suburbs, it's quite possible they'll never encounter someone who isn't white or Japanese.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:50
4
4
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
Sure; as a foreigner, I just couldn't come up quickly with a better example. The idea is still clear, I hope.
– Zeus
Mar 18 at 6:33
add a comment |
These all read as totally normal situations aside from the 34 year old military enlistment--there would need to be a compelling motivation there.
New contributor
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
add a comment |
These all read as totally normal situations aside from the 34 year old military enlistment--there would need to be a compelling motivation there.
New contributor
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
add a comment |
These all read as totally normal situations aside from the 34 year old military enlistment--there would need to be a compelling motivation there.
New contributor
These all read as totally normal situations aside from the 34 year old military enlistment--there would need to be a compelling motivation there.
New contributor
New contributor
answered 2 days ago
Reed WadeReed Wade
311
311
New contributor
New contributor
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
add a comment |
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
You might want to add a bit of detail here. Some answers get flagged as low quality because of brevity.
– Rasdashan
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
thanks, will work on that
– Reed Wade
2 days ago
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
As Rasdashan has said, this has now ended up in the "low quality" review queue. I'm gonna go ahead and hit "Looks OK", but you really should elaborate on this sooner rather than later.
– F1Krazy
yesterday
add a comment |
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8
Some individuals are outliers and special cases. They are atypical. Because they are uncommon, there may be some kind of social tension regarding the situation.
– Double U
Mar 17 at 23:13
11
Remember that lovely statistic that had the average family in the US have 2.5 children?
– Rasdashan
Mar 18 at 1:38
3
First Palm PDA was released in 1996. You want a PDA in the "early 90s" Apple Newton is probably your best bet. But I am guessing that you just forgot that we did not even have PDAs then. // It was funny when iPhone came out and people were all talking about Apple copying Palm or Nokia (communicator) when in fact Apple was there before either. ARM was actually founded to make processors for the Newton. Technology just was not ready.
– Ville Niemi
Mar 18 at 3:17
6
If you're looking at statistics, you need to look at more than just the mean. At a bare minimum, you need to look at the standard deviation as well; preferably, you look at the full distribution.
– Mark
Mar 18 at 4:48
1
Is the late-enlisting military guy a doctor by any chance? Medical doctors often enlist in the military at or even past the "maximum" age limit.
– Darrel Hoffman
2 days ago