False quantification to the n th degree

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Here is an example that shows that the usual rule against showing more
significant digits than your measurement allows need not always apply to
measures of central tendency. Many statisticians--including me, using
the term a bit loosely--will agree that the median of 1, 2, 3, and 4
is neither 2 nor 3 but the exact midpoint--2.500... Note that the mean
also is 2.5. Am I to assume that some of you think that these
calculations are incorrect, or that the median and mean do not exist?
Admittedly, caution is needed: if we know that 1, 2, 3, and 4 here are
ages recorded according to our custom of rounding down (I am "29" even
when I am 29.999), we should add .5 to each value before finding the
central tendency. --Bob Graber

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