There can only be one...billion.

March 4, 2011 9:15 AM

The most typical person on the planet is a 28 year old Chinese man. For now.

Related: Average faces around the world.

posted by phunniemee (50 comments total)

Typical!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:18 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

All I know is typical girls ...buuuuuuy magaziiiiiines.
posted by The Whelk at 9:20 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I know this guy. He's not that great. He's not that not great either.
posted by Think_Long at 9:22 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them.

It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu.

But I think it's Colin."

Tommy Cooper
posted by MuffinMan at 9:23 AM on March 4, 2011 [17 favorites]

I thought this month's National Geographic magazine (where this info was gleaned) was one of their best and most interesting in a very long time.
posted by jillithd at 9:24 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Holy shit, I am the typical person on this planet. (I assume they're talking Chinese ethnicity/heritage, not nationality.)

If people want autographs, please form an orderly line.

Yeah, I know this guy. He's not that great. He's not that not great either.

Hey, screw you! Well, ok, maybe not.
posted by kmz at 9:29 AM on March 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I know this guy. He's not that great. He's not that not great either.

he's kinda down these days. the other day he told me he has this strange feeling that somehow everyone else is more exceptional than him.
posted by the mad poster! at 9:40 AM on March 4, 2011

Yellow Peril in Old Yellow (industry slang for NatGeoMag)
posted by stbalbach at 9:41 AM on March 4, 2011

Mohammed Chang
posted by Burhanistan at 9:44 AM on March 4, 2011

I think this may have been on the blue, but a few years back someone did something similar to try and pinpoint the most average man in this specific country. I was darkly amused to read that he lived in my hometown.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:45 AM on March 4, 2011

There are so many of them. Them! THEM!

What.
posted by nzero at 9:45 AM on March 4, 2011

I would have expected the average person to be female, but I guess China's issues with unwanted female babies skews that?
posted by zarah at 9:46 AM on March 4, 2011

Holy shit, I am the typical person on this planet. (I assume they're talking Chinese ethnicity/heritage, not nationality.)

I always thought kmz was one in a million. Turns out he is one in nine million.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:49 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I woke up this morning feeling like a special snowflake. Thanks National Geographic. Thanks alot.
posted by phyrewerx at 9:53 AM on March 4, 2011

A lot. Now I'm almost below average in spelling.
posted by phyrewerx at 9:54 AM on March 4, 2011

"For now"? That seems a little... ominous.
posted by secretdark at 9:55 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's the thing about China. Even if you're a one-in-a-million kinda guy, there's still a thousand others just like you.

(the Interwebs attribute this bad joke to Alan Whitney Brown)
posted by rh at 9:57 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hm and here I thought it was the indian engineer turned GUI programmer over running the earth in white sneakers and a set of aged parents ;p
posted by infini at 9:58 AM on March 4, 2011

He looks unexceptional, but I suspect that Mr Han may be typical in the Shklovsky / Tristram Shandy sense.
posted by tigrefacile at 10:02 AM on March 4, 2011

The typical guy is kinda boring, but he doesn't age as quickly as you and I.
In five years he'll still be 28. Maybe even 27.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:04 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

This isn't the typical person, it's just the largest homogeneous group. He's anything but typical in, say, sub-Saharan Africa. Treating extant humanity as a group without ancillary characteristics like geographic location seems arbitrary.
posted by clockzero at 10:08 AM on March 4, 2011

Who is the least typical?
posted by doctor_negative at 10:10 AM on March 4, 2011

He still lives at home and his mom just wishes he'd grow up and get the hell out of the basement.
posted by tommasz at 10:14 AM on March 4, 2011

Who is the least typical?

The Learning Channel is striving to find that answer for you.
posted by Quonab at 10:20 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Who is the least typical?

Spartacus!
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:21 AM on March 4, 2011

Who is the least typical?

Redheads!
posted by Bron-Y-Aur at 10:23 AM on March 4, 2011

Who is the least typical?

The people who wear that Hot Topic shirt about how unique they are.
posted by kmz at 10:25 AM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

This isn't the typical person, it's just the largest homogeneous group.

Exactly, and that is why I declare this stupid.
posted by sweetkid at 10:33 AM on March 4, 2011

Who is the least typical?

If recent events have taught us anything, Charlie Sheen.
posted by PlusDistance at 10:57 AM on March 4, 2011

I bet if this guy had a tiger mom, he'd be well above average.
posted by PlusDistance at 10:58 AM on March 4, 2011

He *is* the most typical though. The geographical boundary is 'earth'. Just cause something is concentrated doesn't mean it can't be the most frequent.
posted by the mad poster! at 10:59 AM on March 4, 2011

If you don't know which one of your family members is Chinese, IT'S PROBABLY YOU.
posted by thetruthisjustalie at 11:10 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

As a (just-past) 28 year old Chinese man, I'm going to start going to bars with a shirt: DATE THE BENCHMARK: I'm the median guy.

Then later:
"Was I better or worse than your ex?"
"Worse."
"Then according to National Geographic he was above average. I'm sorry for your loss. Hug it out?"
posted by poq at 11:30 AM on March 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

I would have expected the average person to be female, but I guess China's issues with unwanted female babies skews that?
posted by zarah at 11:46 AM on March 4

Actually, the infographic that accompanied that picture states that there are 1.01 men for every woman on the planet - so it was a man by a very small margin!
posted by jillithd at 11:44 AM on March 4, 2011

Here's something I didn't know until a few minutes ago. I had the "51% female" statistic stuck in my head, too. But that's a statistic specific to the population of the United States.

Other countries' populations are more skewed, such that the world population is 107 men for every 100 women.
posted by ErikaB at 11:51 AM on March 4, 2011

I assume they're talking Chinese ethnicity/heritage, not nationality

I would have to say that its nationality, not heritage, because "Chinese" isn't really an ethnicity, as there are more than 100 different ethnic groups living in China. "Han" Chinese, maybe but that's not what the article says.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:17 PM on March 4, 2011

The linked article says Han Chinese.
posted by kmz at 12:22 PM on March 4, 2011

The most typical person on the planet... drew first.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:31 PM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...
posted by blue_beetle at 12:58 PM on March 4, 2011

there are more than 100 different ethnic groups living in China.

There are a lot of ethnicity in China, but most people in china are Han. There are 1.2 billion Han and the next most common group has only 16 million (or 0.016 billion) people.
posted by delmoi at 1:09 PM on March 4, 2011

And he's been put on the No-Fly List.
posted by Kabanos at 1:10 PM on March 4, 2011

it was a man by a very small margin!

Well, we don't want to hurt his feelings, so try not to bring it up.

...

So to speak.
posted by Celsius1414 at 2:31 PM on March 4, 2011

The most typical person on the planet... drew first.

Shot, he shot first.
posted by nzero at 3:46 PM on March 4, 2011

I'm pretty sure he drew before he shot. Otherwise, it would have been a much shorter movie.

/pedant
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:25 PM on March 4, 2011

But yeah - that's what I meant.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:26 PM on March 4, 2011

That dude needs to deadlift more
posted by tiburon at 4:31 PM on March 4, 2011

I'm pretty sure he drew before he shot. Otherwise, it would have been a much shorter movie.

/pedant


Oh no you didn't! The point is not whether he drew before he fired, it's that, having drawn, he shot before Greedo. Did he also draw before Greedo? No, Greedo never holstered his weapon. The key to his shooting first was that he had to move the gun a shorter distance because he was firing from under the table.

So there. :D
posted by nzero at 5:35 PM on March 4, 2011

This guy.....is a really "mean"-ie

I'llbehereallweektrytheveal
posted by Existential Dread at 6:53 PM on March 4, 2011

This is not the capitulation you were looking for.*

*This is totally the capitulation you were looking for.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:01 PM on March 4, 2011

I thought this related article on population trends and theory was fascinating. Thanks!
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/seven-billion/kunzig-text

posted by odayoday at 8:08 PM on March 4, 2011