Explain Quetelet's concept of the 'average man'.
The 'average man,' or 'l'homme moyen,' is not a description of any single individual, but rather a statistical construct representing the typical characteristics of a population. By collecting and analyzing vast amounts of data—on height, weight, crime rates, mortality, and other measurable aspects—I sought to establish norms and central tendencies. This average represents the point around which individual variations tend to cluster, reflecting the underlying regularities of human nature and society.
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