On Average, Across Large Groups of People

Broad generalizations (‘people don’t like being interrupted’, ‘men are taller than women’) invite a certain type of tiresome objection where the statement is disputed based on anecdote (‘that doesn’t bother me’, ‘my best friend is six foot four’). This creates an unfortunate choice: either preempt the objection by prefacing any such statement with a longwinded disclaimer about distributions and averages or tolerate the distraction of a wrongheaded (but emotionally appealing) reply.

I propose a third option: OAALGoP (pronounced ‘ole-gop’) is an acronym which stands for On Average, Across Large Groups of People. With this acronym you can succinctly clarify the statistical nature of a generalized statement, efficiently avoiding tedious anecdotal counterpoints.

Give it a try today!