He was looking at his daughter play on the exercise machines in the park and said: there’s no average man. Her body was too small for the machines - she’s only five and a half after all, and they are built for adults. What are the average proportions? Can you measure the average space between elbow and wrist? He said that before seating was adjustable, the cockpits of US air force jets had been designed for the average man, and that’s what led to so many crashes, and they later discovered the logic behind the design had been flawed. When he said this, it kind of jolted the air— he doesn’t talk much. He looks like a handsome version of midwestern average. I later found an article. While one man might have the average palm size, and another might have the average torso width, not one individual met the average measurements overall. There’s an error in the concept of averages— they come from something measured and real, but the result is a degree removed, and the degree renders the accuracy of variation invisible.