Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

r2k-in-the-vortex t1_iqv59vd wrote

Reply to comment by ApprehensiveSorbet76 in [OC] Supersonic Inefficiency: Why the Concorde Was Decommissioned by haboo213

When you are reading a graph, you are expected to read, the range is written right there on the axis. The range is always fitted to data, there is no requirement for starting from some arbitrary value, zero or otherwise.

−2

NicobulusIsMyDog t1_iqv7ag1 wrote

Graphs are a form of communication, and it is a communicators job to try and limit the potential for major misunderstandings just as much as it is the responsibility of those who receive a communication to try and interpret it accurately.

Separately, no choice of range for data is agnostic/default, so choosing to fit the data in a way that excludes zero when excluding zero distorts the graphs meaning is a form of misrepresentation on the graph makers part, even if it was not a conscious or malicious decision. “The range is always fitted to data” is not an excuse for a misleading design.

2

ApprehensiveSorbet76 t1_iqw1n5u wrote

When you are reading a table, you are expected to read.
When you are reading a graph, you are expected to view.

2