Have you ever felt just plain average? Have you ever felt like you are on the same path as everyone else? In a world with a population of 7.8 billion people, how can anyone feel as if they are truly unique? We all feel like this sometimes, especially in a world dominated by social media where we are being trained to like the same things and watch the same videos. What does the average person actually look like though? In a population of nearly 8 billion people, what is the norm, if any?
Recently the National Geographic recorded data for the population of the world. They created an index of age, nationality, favored hand, and more. They looked at things like eye and hair color but also economic and social status like whether you are married or have a car.
The study showed that the “typical” person in the world today is a 28-year-old Han Chinese man. If you fit that description then you are one of 9,000,000 people that it applies to. Congratulations you are the most average person in the world. If you are right-handed, have a mobile phone but don’t have a bank account, then you fit the typical human picture perfectly.
If this image does not fit you, then don’t feel left out. It is an every changing average as the population continues to decline and grow in different parts of the world. As the birth rates of many developed countries continue to decline and the population of India continues to grow, the world is getting a little more Indian. By 2030, studies show that the average person will be Indian.
In reality, the world is full of unique people. We are not defined by our ethnicity, our mobile phone or our hair color. So if you do ever feel lost in a world this large, turn off your social media, step outside and do something unique, be yourself.
