Why Mean Absolute Deviation isn't Common

In this video I explain why the mean absolute deviation is accurate, but isn't commonly used. The reason for this is that the mean absolute deviation doesn't allow us to make predictions about the population and focuses solely on our sample. This is why the variance, which estimates for the population, is more commonly reported.

[egosumcamax]

You really ansewered my question, thanks.

[toadmove]

To make assumptions on the parameterization of the underlying population distribution seems very dangerous, much more so than using a more robust measure of dispersion like MAD.
Central limit theorem holds for the continued addition of random variables, but that doesnt mean guaranteed convergence to Gaussian (the ONLY case where variance makes sense).