These are two different effects of the same quality.<p>&quot;Average&quot; means undistinguished, interchangeable; depending on the distribution and context it may mean, with examples:<p>* normal distribution (IQ): &quot;worse than half of the others&quot;<p>* distribution with a long positive tail (wealth): &quot;way worse than the best&quot;<p>* distribution with a compressed left tail (IQ in college-educated adults): &quot;amongst of the worst&quot;<p>* 20&#x2F;80 cut-off (female mating strategy): &quot;swipe left&quot;<p>&quot;Average&quot; also means safe, solid, ideal, normal. This happens when avoiding risk:<p>* probabilistic estimate of future risk (there is evidence that averaging multiple faces renders a face more beautiful than the rest): average mate =&gt; higher probability of average (viable) offspring<p>* 80&#x2F;20 cut-off (male mating strategy): &quot;gentlemen prefer blondes — but marry brunettes&quot;<p>* [too tired to think of other meanings]<p>Often the same product is both average-good and average-bad, and this is why we have Internet flame wars!