“The shocking truth is that 50% of Americans have a below-average IQ.”
No, the truth is that 50% of Americans have a below the mean IQ.
Your sentence would depend on the distribution of the mean Er something like that, lololol
Of course, I just meant it as a joke — saying something that seems to mean something; but, actually means no more than saying “things fall down”, or “water is often wet”.
If we’re being technical, “average” usually means the “mean”, but can also mean the “median”. In the case of IQ, “median” would be the better measure. By definition, in every country, 50% of the population is above, and 50% below the average (median) for that country.
BTW, the IQ scale originally pegged the USA median at 100. According to the site at the link below, it’s fallen to 98 (don’t feel too bad — Canada’s is 97). Mexico’s is 87 — I wonder if that has anything to do with changing scores?
http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm