# Why are we all the same age today 2018 these things add up to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339 "2018-10-02T22:07:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2018, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/81 "2018-10-06T06:45:35Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > What year was she born? I honestly didn’t remember, but checking on Facebook shows 1955. Not as old as I thought, but that’s even more reason for me to feel sorry for her. Oh, and, by the definition I was taught in school, you cannot have multiple modes. You were to do the mean if there was a tied mode. Similarly, if there were an even number of data points, you were to get the mean of the two middle values. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/82 "2018-10-06T14:15:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Oh, and, by the definition I was taught in school, you cannot have multiple modes. You were to do the mean if there was a tied mode. Similarly, if there were an even number of data points, you were to get the mean of the two middle values. I think you are confusing different things here. You can definitely have [multiple modes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimodal_distribution), although a Normal Distribution has one mode. I have no idea what you mean by “tied mode.” If there are an even number of data points, you get the _median_ by taking the average of the two middle values. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/83 "2018-10-06T14:16:53Z")
All I know is that I feel a whole lot more like I do now than I did when I got here. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/84 "2018-10-06T15:34:05Z")
Funnily, Novelty Bobble’s cite gives Monday absences as 35 %, and Friday as 3%, which if true means that the statement 40% of sickdays are taken on Mondays and Fridays is pretty close to objectively true. The mind boggles! ---
**Author:** ![steadicam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@steadicam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steadicam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/85 "2018-10-08T05:52:48Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think the most important thing for joke to be funny is that it has to work and it should not need a paragraph of explanation or justification. > > I think I’ll just chalk this one up to “you had to be there” Even with the explanation given next to the Dilbert strip it make no sense. Don’t get out much, do you?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/86 "2018-10-08T06:16:34Z")
> [@Dunmurry](#): > > so is it true that it is very rare however I am not convinced that it is unique and is there a mathematical reason why it happens in fact? It is true. And ludicrously misleading. In a _very_ similar vein: Due to a unique confluence of cosmological, social and mathematical facts all dovetailing together in a never before seen conjunction, TODAY IS UNIQUE!!! The date has NEVER before been 8 oct 2018, and after the day ends IT WILL NEVER BE AGAIN! Celebrate this once-in-a-universe’s-lifetime event! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/87 "2018-10-08T08:56:18Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > … > TODAY IS UNIQUE!!! > The date has NEVER before been 8 oct 2018, and after the day ends IT WILL NEVER BE AGAIN! Celebrate this once-in-a-universe’s-lifetime event! It is conceivable that the year 2018 could occur again. Recently, a friend, who is only a few years older than me, showed me a report card that he had received in primary school. It was dated “Anno XXI”, i.e., year 21. Explanation: he was at school in Italy in 1943, during Mussoliini’s rule, when Italy had adopted the [Era Fascista](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Era_Fascista). If some future dictator reorganises the calendar, and the new calendar lasts more than two millennia, our descendants could see another year 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339/88 "2018-10-08T18:19:32Z")
> [@steadicam](#): > > Don’t get out much, do you?🙂 what do you mean by that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-all-the-same-age-today-2018-these-things-add-up-to/822339.md?page=4)