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                              How Average Are You?

   Adam Engst

   How do you think you compare to others? That's the question posed by
   the ThanAverage website in what it calls a 'small unscientific
   investigation into how we value and compare ourselves to each other.'
   It prompts:

     Imagine you are in a room with 100 strangers. Imagine they're
     similar to your peers and neighbours. Based solely on your own
     instinct, perceptions, and self-reflection, answer the following
     questions.

   For each question, you click a button to indicate how you think you
   compare to the average: do you use social media less, are you more
   punctual, do you have better dental hygiene, are you more humble, and
   so on. The site presents 95 questions in random order (and welcomes
   suggestions for more). Response rates are robust, ranging from
   approximately 16,000 for newer questions to over 40,000 for those that
   have been in place longer.

   Most amusing was the classic, 'Are you a better driver than average?'
   When I answered it (above average, of course), the ThanAverage audience
   revealed itself to be far more self-aware than average, with precisely
   50% of respondents claiming to be above average. Perhaps they are aware
   of other studies showing that up to [1]80% of people claim to be
   above-average drivers, which triggers [2]Dave Barry's quote: 'The one
   thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion
   or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average
   drivers.'

   Our Do You Use It? polls have long revealed how self-selection
   influences survey results. I've always believed that, like [3]the
   children of Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegon, TidBITS readers are all
   above average, and now you can quantify that for yourself at
   ThanAverage. Or at least get an opportunity to reflect on polling
   weaknesses and psychological biases. Hat tip to [4]Recommendo for the
   link.

   [5]Read original article

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.lbec-law.com/blog/2025/04/the-majority-of-drivers-believe-theyre-better-than-average/#:~:text=When%20asked%20to%20rate%20their,drivers%20around%20them%20simply%20lack.
   2. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/19279
   3. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/154795
   4. https://www.recomendo.com/p/personal-info-auditfree-audio-transcriptionthan
   5. https://thanaverage.xyz/

   Hidden links:
   6. https://tidbits.com/uploads/2025/06/Average-drivers.png

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