thecel
narrow-orbits brachy-skull ogre
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Many people strongly believe that empirical data, being scientific and more trustworthy, is the only kind of evidence one should focus on and one shouldn’t pay much attention to anecdotal data.
I agree with this position on topics like psychology, racism and sexism, etc. but not for measurements about oneself that are related to one’s own social status. In my opinion, anecdotal evidence is more important than impirical with things like height, penis size, age of virginity loss, etc.
Why? Because average is perceived as below average. Below-average people are invisible. A 5'10" man in the US seems slightly short to others even though he’s average. A guy who lost his virginity at 15 is not seen as an early fucker even though 15 is 1–2 years before the average.
Here are some examples of “below average is invisible” in my life:
Think about the reason why you look these stats up. Is it out of genuine interest in the science and statistics? No, for most people it’s not. You care about these stats because you want the following things:
I agree with this position on topics like psychology, racism and sexism, etc. but not for measurements about oneself that are related to one’s own social status. In my opinion, anecdotal evidence is more important than impirical with things like height, penis size, age of virginity loss, etc.
Why? Because average is perceived as below average. Below-average people are invisible. A 5'10" man in the US seems slightly short to others even though he’s average. A guy who lost his virginity at 15 is not seen as an early fucker even though 15 is 1–2 years before the average.
Here are some examples of “below average is invisible” in my life:
- I don’t know anyone with a 3–digit SAT score (33% of SAT scores are 990 or lower, OR 33% of SAT test-takers’ scores (Mean? Superscore? Highest Composite? Who knows…) are 990 or lower (I don’t know how SAT percentile is calculated))
- I don’t know any guys with penises shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm)
- I hear about people losing their virginities at 14–15 much more than I hear about people losing it at 16–17 which is statistically average.
- The majority of upperclassmen I see in the hallway at high school are at least 6 feet tall. In the USA, where the average male height is 5'10", my observation clearly must be biased.
Think about the reason why you look these stats up. Is it out of genuine interest in the science and statistics? No, for most people it’s not. You care about these stats because you want the following things:
- Validation
- Ego boost
- Sense of superiority over other men
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