The Face of Seven Billion

National Geographic has just launched a year long series on the study of the world’s current population.  It starts off with this video (and assorted interactive statistics on the world’s most average person, based on demographic data.  (Spoiler alert, he’s a 28 year old Han Chinese man.)  It’s a pretty interest video and the stats are definitely worth playing with.   (For example, I learned that the average man in Peru is 5’4 1/2″.  My sisters and I would do well there.)

While this series it’s thought provoking, it’s not all that original.  It reminds me a lot of the book The Average American that I read a few years back.  But, to my to knowledge, NatGeo’s not actually setting out to track down and meet the world’s most statically average person, as the author of that book was.  I would highly recommend The Average American.  It’s good if you’re interested in the reality of who/what America is compared to the view that we get from the media, government, etc.  Not quite as fun as 100% American (my favorite stat’s book of all time — yes, I have a favorite stats book), but I think that that’s been out of print since soon after I was born.))

NatGeo’s stats about average people are interesting, but they’re probably not as fun as OKCupid’s.