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Distribution of data is something I use the most.

E.g., For understanding compensation for different job families I used to just look at the market salary range. Now I dig into the distribution. I am now more confident when I make an offer at a given percentile.

On a similar topic, someone says that a farmer here (in India) is making multiple of a typical SWE salary. I go back to distribution.

Or take quality of specialized food in cities (e.g., Biryani in Hyderabad, Dosa in Bangalore). When someone says Biryani in Hyderabad is great I now realise what it means. That the quality distribution of Hyderabad Biryani is to the right of Biryani in Bangalore i.e., the top 10% of Bangalore Biryani overlaps with bottom 10% of Hyderabad Biryani. It also means that I can walk into a random restaurant in Hyderabad and be confident that Biryani there will taste mind-blowingly better than Bangalore.



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