Life

A Day In The Life Of The Average Human

You've probably seen more than a few averages in your day; statistics telling us, say, what the average amount of coffee people drink or the average amount of time people typically spend online can give us insight into larger trends within any given subject area. But if you've ever wondered what the most average person in the world would be like, you no longer have to imagine what the average of all those averages would add up to. Wired did a little number crunching to find out what the average day is like for humans in the United States, and the resulting video explaining the data all kinds of fascinating. I for one find this sort of data to be really intriguing, since this information can help us to see what most people are doing... sort of.

First, let's talk about what an average actually is. The definition of an average, mathematically speaking, is "a single value (as a mean, mode, or median) that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values," according to Merriam-Webster. An average is found by addind together a quantity of numbers and then dividing the result by the number of figures in the data set (remember grade school math class?). However, while an average might tell us what the middle ground is for any given data set, it's also worth remembering that it doesn't necessarily reflect what most people are actually doing.

That said, though, these numbers do help us establish a baseline for a lot of common human behaviors. So, let's take a look at five of the ways an average human will behave in a day, according to Wired. Scroll down to watch the full video!

1. You'll Sleep 8.7 Hours

The average human in America sleeps 8.7 hours a night, which is actually great! The Sleep Foundation recommends adults sleep between seven and nine hours per night, and 8.7 falls right into this range. But, you also have to remember that this figure was found by adding together a whole lot of sleep patterns, which might muddy the waters of what the "average" person does.

2. You Will Pee Four to Seven Times

If you fall into the average, you'll pee four to seven times per day. This seems like a small figure to me, since I probably pee four to seven times in the first half of my day. But again, there are many variables that go into this figure, from age to height. Speaking to Women's Health & Fitness, urogynaecologist Dr. Yik Lim noted that a younger person will likely have a largely bladder capacity than someone in their 80s; furthermore, a five-foot-tall person will likely have a smaller bladder than a six-foot-tall one. Given that I'm 5'1"... well, you do the math.

3. You'll Check Your Phone 150 Times

Guys, this is ridiculous. All of us are clearly phone addicts with an average like this. For context, consider the fact that Wired also determined the average person is awake for 15.3 hours of every day. Checking your phone 150 times in those 15.3 hours means that you likely check it almost 10 times per hour, or once every six minutes. I don't know about you, but I'm going to go put my phone away now... and hopefully keep it put away for a while.

4. You'll Swear 80 Times

This is another figure that I'm shocked is so high, but apparently the most average of us will curse 80 times over the course of a day — more than three times per hour.

5. You'll Have Five Hours Of Leisure Time

Um, I'm not sure where they got this figure, but this definitely doesn't reflect my life! But really, guys, five hours is the average amount of time you'll have to do with as you please today.That time may include spending 2.8 hours watching television, spending 40 minutes on Facebook, and/or spending 17 minutes engaging in exercise... at least, if you fall in the range of these other averages.

Want to see more of what the average person's day is like? Check out the full video below:

Images: Thomas/Flickr; WIRED/YouTube(5);