“The great man,” said Mencius (孟子), “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average. It encourages us to occupy our own little corner, to avoid foolish leaps into the dark, to be satisfied. (2020天津卷)

请问这段中的 And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average 是什么意思？尤其是 the calm and restful average 应如何理解？这个 average 是什么词性？它是名词吗？