Prevalence
In cases of pathology, often "most" or "almost all" examples of a phenomenon are pathological, which is formalized by measures of size such as cardinality, measure (almost everywhere), probability (almost surely), or a generic property. For example, the set of rational numbers is countable (and has measure zero, and is a meagre set), but the set of irrational numbers is uncountable (and has full measure, and is a comeagre set): "almost all" real numbers are irrational, in these senses. In this case, pathologies are not the rare exceptions but the most common.
Read more about this topic: Pathological (mathematics)
Famous quotes containing the word prevalence:
“The prevalence of suicide, without doubt, is a test of height in civilization; it means that the population is winding up its nervous and intellectual system to the utmost point of tension and that sometimes it snaps.”
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)
“That the public can grow accustomed to any face is proved by the increasing prevalence of Keith’s ruined physiognomy on TV documentaries and chat shows, as familiar and homely a horror as Grandpa in The Munsters.”
—Philip Norman, British author, journalist. The Life and Good Times of the Rolling Stones, introduction (1989)