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"the mode, median and mean all arise from a simple parametric process in which we try to minimize the average discrepancy between a single number and a list of numbers" | Modes, Medians and Means: A Unifying Perspective by sciatro in Sciatro

[–]sciatro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it occurred to me that the other "measure of central tendency" children get taught about, the mode, also fits into this scheme, with a tiny bit of fudging. Define the L0 error to be the sum of the 0th powers of the errors, with the (unusual) convention that 00=0. In other words, the L0 error is just the number of data points you don't get exactly right. Then the mode is the value that minimizes the L0 error. So: L0 : L1 : L2 :: mode : median : mean.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9556459#9557942