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Quetelet's Social Physics

Quetelet's Social Physics is the idea that human behavior and societal patterns follow certain regularities, much like natural phenomena. Adolphe Quetelet, a 19th-century statistician, studied large groups to find consistent trends—such as average ages, birth rates, or crime rates—that help us understand societal dynamics. Essentially, it suggests that collective human activity can be analyzed mathematically, revealing predictable patterns. This approach helps us grasp how societies function and change over time, providing a scientific foundation for social sciences similar to how physics studies natural laws.