Name: What we miss when we focus on the average
Uploaded: 2021-11-02T14:51:41Z
Duration: 3 min 11 s
Description: It's tempting to focus on averages when we think about data, but the world is a lot messier than those numbers can make it out to be. So what could we gain if we shifted our attention to the outliers in the data, or as data journalist Mona Chalabi likes to call them, the lost birds? Want to hear more from Mona? Check out her podcast Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi, from the TED Audio Collective.

Mona Chalabi: What we miss when we focus on the average

What we miss when we focus on the average

It's tempting to focus on averages when we think about data, but the world is a lot messier than those numbers can make it out to be. So what could we gain if we shifted our attention to the outliers in the data, or as data journalist Mona Chalabi likes to call them, the lost birds? Want to hear more from Mona? Check out her podcast Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi, from the TED Audio Collective.


Focusing only on averages can paint a misleadingly tidy picture of reality. For instance, while teen smoking rates in America dropped from 36 to 6 percent, rates among American Indian and Native Alaskan teens remained much higher at 21 percent. Outliers, or 'lost birds,' often hold the key to understanding who is left behind and what work remains. By examining the stories and statistics that defy the norm, a richer, more accurate view of society emerges.