&gt; For example, Quetelet showed that the average rate of suicide was relatively stable from year to year. While this would hardly be startling news these days, in the 1830s suicide was seen as a highly irrational private decision that could not possibly conform to any deeper pattern. Instead, Quetelet showed that suicides occurred with reliable and consistent regularity. And not only that: He claimed that the stability of the occurrences indicated that everyone possesses an average propensity toward suicide.<p>I must admit this is really interesting. If all people are individuals, it&#x27;s not obvious that the suicide rates should be stable.