How are you above and below average? List the ways.

AA: Writing, reading, spelling, driving, sports (younger days), curiosity, confidence, computer skills, daredevil.

BA: math, housekeeping, tolerance for boredom/attention span, impatient.

I’ve been fortunate enough to lead an interesting life, so let’s see how much of that comes through:

Above average (and best guess degree of deviation from the mean):
[ul]
[li]Number of siblings (4 sigma)[/li][li]Strength (been in the 1000+ powerlifting club for years) (3 sigma)[/li][li]Avg. number of calories eaten per year (2 sigma)[/li][li]Amount and variety of drugs done in HS / College (3 sigma)[/li][li]Number of cars and motorcycles owned (3 sigma)[/li][li]Number of dogs (army of floofs) (2 sigma)[/li][li]Number of companies founded or equity owner in (5 sigma)[/li][li]Number and variety of industries with professional experience in (1 sigma)[/li][li]Countries lived and worked in (1 sigma against worldwide, 2 or 3 sigma against Americans)[/li][li]Countries visited (1 sigma against worldwide, 2 or 3 sigma against Americans)[/li][li]Average number of books read per month or year (3 sigma)[/li][li]Number and average perversity of sexual partners (4 sigma)[/li][li]Average annual hospitalizations (3 sigma)[/li][li]Survival over actuarially expected (3 sigma)[/li][li]Luck (3 sigma)[/li][/ul]

Below average:
[ul]
[li]Painting / Drawing (1 sigma)[/li][li]Musical instrument ability (2 sigma)[/li][li]Singing skills (1 sigma)[/li][li]Navigation (2 sigma)[/li][li]Approachability / Friendliness (2 sigma)[/li][li]Fashion sense (1 sigma)[/li][li]Detail oriented-ness (2 sigma)[/li][li]Budgeting (1 sigma)[/li][li]Situational awareness (2 sigma)[/li][/ul]

Above average: Memory, IQ, tenacity, math ability, fashion sense, language skills, reading speed.
Below average: Social skills, sense of direction (I have none)

You could probably benefit from a good life coach. There have been times in my life when I didn’t have a sense of direction, and family and friends were of no help, but talking to a (trained) stranger who can look at your life objectively and provide you with real, viable options can get you back on track.

It isn’t magic, it’s just somebody who can see things you can’t, make suggestions you would never have thought of, and is looking after your personal best interest with no hidden agenda…

I’ll take your freebies and invert them. I’m a below average driver, but I’m above average at remembering names.

Below average: detail work involving fingers. Fuggedaboudit!

Above:
Making music
Languages
Empathy

Below:
Physical fitness
Driving
Sense of direction*

*I mean this literally, as in finding the way, not in my life, though I’m a bit a drifter too.

Above:
Weight
IQ
Age
Writing ability
Number of cats
Spelling
Household income
Reading
Vocabulary
Keeping my head in crises
Trivia
Laziness

Below:
Physical fitness
Spacial awareness
Fashion sense
Physical flexibility
Attention span
Sports
Salesmanship
Cooking
Neatness
Endurance
Attractiveness

I have a great sense of direction, comes from working in the routing department in my fathers old company for years. Hell, I once boarded a plane in Atlanta, debarked in Hartford CT, drove to Troy NY, and went straight to our temporary warehouse… and didn’t have an address. I was like “yeah, this looks like a place we would put it” and found it.

Above Average

6’2"’ (180 cm) tall
3 children
Speak several languages at least passably well, so above for an American anyway
17 years in current job
Good with numbers

Below Average

Net worth (not very good with money, getting better)
Physical strength (bad genes and a sedentary lifestyle, working on it)
Flexibility (see above)

Actually, solving life’s problems with amazing solutions is where I shine. I can come up with an unusual, workable solution for most things.

By “sense of direction,” I mean literally I cannot find my way anywhere. I get lost in my hometown, where I have lived for over 30 years. I can memorize buildings on every block, but once I don’t recognize where I am, I have to stop and ask directions

It’s genetic. No female in my family has every had a sense of direction.

I’m above average in height.

I’m below average in innate athletic ability.

Above average:
[ul]
[li]Attacked by violent people/criminals. [/li]Far more than normal; from a group of “urban youths” beating me to the ground, to a very violent parolee (previously jailed for a home invasion). All were random encounters.

[li]Number of surgeries, scars, etc. [/li]Under the knife seven times so far. I don’t go to pool parties anymore, having heard every version of the “How did you survive the autopsy?” joke.

[li]Spatial awareness/skill. [/li]Way above average. Especially operating large vehicles/equipment. I explained some of that in this thread.

[li]Rags to riches, money etc. [/li]At the start of the 80’s, I had a part time, night shift job, broke, unable to make rent and evicted. At the start of the 90’s, I was in the 1%.

[li]IQ etc. [/li]Never tested, but probably above average. I have a couple of engineering degrees, and currently write software for unmanned vehicles.

[li]Moves, relocations.[/li]We’ve moved across state or national lines 11 times since we got married.
[/ul]
Below average:
[ul]
[li]Grace/coordination etc. [/li]I can’t dance or do anything requiring “body” skills. Also cannot catch or throw balls beyond simple slow underhands.

[li]Social skills. [/li]I can’t seem to do much beyond irritating people in most groups. I limit myself to a few friends and one regular Texas Holdem game.

[li]Number of friends.[/li]As you could guess from above, a very small number. I joke with my wife that my entire Monkeysphere can fit in our minivan, with room left over.

[li]Political Activism/Involvement.[/li]Near zero. Never marched, protested, or worn any political attire. Went to bed early November 8th, and found out who won over morning coffee.
[/ul]

Above average:

Scrabble ability
Number of diseases :smiley:
Knowledge of random crap

Below average:

Weight (height is average or slightly above or slightly below, depending on the source and criteria)
Personal organisation
Income

Above average: Number of legs.

**Below average: **
Sense of direction/paying attention while driving. Anyone who has ever been a passenger in my vehicle more than a few times will chime in now and then with a “you know you’re getting off on this exit, right?”

Making small talk. If I do engage in it, I’m exhausted afterwards and feel like I need a nap or something.

Sports & games: Bowling, golf, throwing a football, any game that requires good short-term memory.

Above average:
Remembering ridiculously useless information. (“Yellow River”? That was released by Christie; the B-side was “Down the Mississippi Line”.)

Editing photos. I get compliments on my photography, but most folks don’t realize that it’s my post-processing abilities that are largely responsible for the quality of the image.

Sports & games: Pinball, backgammon, poker, Pac-Man, horseshoes.
mmm

Above average: spelling, fast typing
Average or below: everything else

I am 42 year old American male for reference.

Above average.

  1. Weight. My BMI is 40.
  2. Intelligence. My IQ is above average, though I readily admit there are far more intelligent people than me. I am pretty good at understanding complex material, but have zero ability to use that understanding to create anything new.
  3. Reading ability. I read constantly.
  4. Blood sugar levels. I really need to be managing my diabetes better.
    I also have a fairly amount of trivia knowledge about professional wrestling, Star Trek, and Marvel Comics. And judging from trying to make historical references that no one gets, I apparently have above average knowledge about history(though this might just be limited to my family).

Below average

  1. Height. I am 5 feet 4 inches; the average height of a male(in the USA) is 5 feet 9 inches.
  2. Socializing/Number of friends. I have severe social anxiety so that pretty much rules out me interacting with others. I don’t have any friends outside of my family or the people in the groups at my local mental health center.
  3. Physical fitness and sports. Obviously with a BMI of 40, I’m not in the best of shape. However, even when I was younger and weighed 80 pounds less, I sucked at any sort of sporting activity.
  4. Travel. I’ve never traveled outside of 4 states(New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts). I never flown on an airplane. I have never been to the ocean(this one I do plan on doing at one point).
  5. Political Activism/Involvement. While I do vote, I’ve never been to any sort of political rally or even a town meeting. I’ve lived in New Hampshire my whole life and due to its status of having the First in the Nation primary, it’s kinda soured me with oversaturation of politics during primary season.
  6. Net worth/income. I’ve lived below the poverty level my whole life.

Bragging time! Yeay!

Above:

Photographer
Videographer
Technical writer
Teacher

Well, I’m guessing I’m above average at those things because a lot of people are paying a goodly amount of money to keep me doing those things.

Also above average (from older teen years on) in weight for my height. I wasn’t fat, tho. At least, not until about my mid 40s. Example, at age 20 I was 6’ tall, weighed in at 225 lbs with a 32" waist and a 48" chest. Yep, a naturally massive upper body which I enhanced with body building. My legs and arms and neck and shoulders are huge, too. I was recruited by several colleges for football, I went to one of them. I could never buy a suit off the rack, because of my dimensions. Currently overweight, but doctors are always surprised at how much I weigh because a lot of my weight is in my large limbs and upper body. I’m still too fat for my own liking now.

My wife and friends think I’m above average in cooking and singing.

Oh yeah, public speaking. Pretty good at it, never nervous.

Below:

My nickname for years, and my original Dope name, was NoClueBoy. Social interactions, you see. If I liked a girl, I couldn’t tell if she hated me, tolerated me, or adored me. Apparently I even hurt or annoyed certain females by not catching on to their feelings about me. Same held true for non romantic relations. Was he my bud? or just an easy afternoon hanging out? Damn, I wish I knew then, ya know?

In a related vein, I couldn’t take a hint for anything. I was kind of Spock-ish in my way of looking at things too lierally. Slightly better at that now. My wife helps in that stuff.

Family. Outside of my nuclear family growing up and a couple of cousins from one aunt and uncle, I don’t have any idea where my family relations are. Around here in the MidWest, that comes across strange.

Ability to shut up. More cluelessness, maybe? I tend not to stop talking, writing, or doing stuff, even when it’s completely obvious to others that it would be best. Just look at this post!

Memory. Tested out through school and work programs that I can reread a printed page out loud even tho I only saw it once for a few moments. So, above average in that respect, but I can’t remember important dates to save my life. I google calendar my anniversary.

.

I am taller than average. In terms of being below average, I don’t think I’m as strong as a man my size normally would be.