Mediocrity principle

Have you ever heard someone say "just be average" or "don't try too hard"? They might be talking about the mediocrity principle!

The mediocrity principle is the idea that most things in the world are just average or ordinary. This means that when you look at a bunch of things or people, most of them will be kind of the same. Not too great, not too bad, just okay.

For example, let's say you're in a race with a bunch of other kids. The mediocrity principle means that most of you will run at an average speed. There might be one or two really fast kids, and a couple who are really slow, but most of you will be somewhere in the middle. That's just how things usually are!

The mediocrity principle can help us make some predictions about the world. For instance, if we're trying to figure out how intelligent people are, we can usually assume that most of them are kind of smart, but not geniuses. Or if we're trying to guess how likely an event is to happen, we might expect that it's just about as likely as any other ordinary thing.

But just because most things are ordinary doesn't mean we should stop trying to be exceptional! It's always good to do your best and work hard, even if you know that you might end up being just average in the end. The important thing is that you're doing your best!