Jan Souman wrote:
>
> Does anybody know why the normal distribution is called 'normal'? The most
> plausible explanations I've encountered so far are:
>
> 1. The value of a variable that has a normal distribution is determined by
> many different factors, each contributing a small part of the total value.
> Because this is the case with many real life variables, like length and
> intelligence, the resulting distribution of values is called normal.
Intelligence is a bad example. IQ is normally distributed, but only because
the tests are built that way. Intelligence has no agreed definition, measure
or distribution (except possibly binomial ..)
Thom
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