Network Intelligence Research Center (NIRC)

Oct 9, 2026 · Fundamentals

Why Averages Lie: Simpson's Paradox Explained with a Concrete Example

This article explains Simpson's Paradox through a numerical example where Plan A outperforms Plan B in both simple and difficult tasks individually, but Plan B appears better when aggregated due to differing task distributions, illustrating how hidden variables can reverse aggregate conclusions and how to avoid such pitfalls.