How not to be Mean about Average!
Couple of centuries back, there lived a renowned Statistics Professor in Indian subcontinent. The professor, proud of his academic achievements, would always place statistical knowledge on a higher pedestal than common sense.
It so happened that the professor and his family of four had to travel to meet their relatives in another city across the river. The water level in the river was quite low, but to be on the safer side, as none in the family knew swimming, our professor got the maximum depth of the river measured. It came out to be 3 and a half ft. deep.
The lanky professor was himself 6 and a half ft. tall. His wife 5 and a half, teenage daughter 5 and toddler son 3 ft. The average height of the family came out to be 5 ft. It's a full feet and a half more than maximum depth of the river. Hence the prof made up his mind that it's ok to cross the river by walking.
But his neighbors were doubtful. When they told the prof that it might be risky to cross the river on foot for whole family, they were promptly told to shut up as the calculations done were perfect. The prof was so sure of his calculations that he invited the whole city to witness magic of Statistics and how it is better than common sense.
On the fateful day, the family started crossing the river on foot. As they come nearer to the middle of the river i.e. the deepest point, the risk of drowning became clearer. But the prof, in his ego, just couldn't acknowledge it. A strong water current swept the youngest and shortest member of the family i.e. the son. In a bid to save him, all other family members lost balance and started drowning.
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But the family was lucky. As the whole city was present to witness this event, there were some good swimmers in the crowd. They promptly dived in the river and saved the whole family.
When the prof came to his senses, he realized that he could have lost his family. He was overwhelmed with emotions, but still couldn't believe that his calculations were misplaced. He could only utter a single sentence in hindustani language before fainting again- "Hisab jyun ka tyun, Kunba dooba kyun!" (????? ????? ?? ?????, ????? ???? ?????!). Translated as - The calculations remain same and perfect, then why did my family drowned!
P.S.
I heard this story first by Prof. S.C. Gupta in Hindu College, Delhi University. Made some changes to the story, especially ending.