[HN Gopher] Towards a Theory of Bullshit Visualization [pdf]
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Towards a Theory of Bullshit Visualization [pdf]
Author : polm23
Score : 82 points
Date : 2021-09-26 07:50 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (research.tableau.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (research.tableau.com)
| raphlinus wrote:
| A more sophisticated exploration of this topic is Calling
| Bullshit[1], by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West. That's a book, but
| the linked website also has a lot of freely available resources.
| It's been taught as a college course - week 6 is data
| visualization.
|
| [1]: https://www.callingbullshit.org/
| kowlo wrote:
| I feel this would have been more suitable as a blog post rather
| than a two-column layout under a "research" subdomain. I wonder
| if "Tableau Research" has a rigorous peer-review process for its
| research publications.
| w-j-w wrote:
| I was almost wondering if that was going to be the punchline of
| this paper. "Surprise, we tricked you with an academic format
| into taking an opinion piece more seriously than you should
| have, further proving the point we are trying to make"
| sk5t wrote:
| The layout and URL are part of the joke. The article opens with
| "In this unhinged rant"--I really don't think this is any sort
| of attempt to fool the reader.
| [deleted]
| rjuyal wrote:
| Talking about bullshit visualizations I think this should top the
| chart:
|
| https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Modi_Chart.jpg...
|
| https://qz.com/india/1388030/indias-bjp-peddled-a-prime-exam...
| aaron695 wrote:
| No, this is not what's being talked about. That's a deceptive
| chart, not their idea of Bullshit Visualization's. It's an
| example of the minority of bad charts, as your link shows it
| gets jumped on quick.
|
| This from your article is a better example -
|
| https://theatlas.com/charts/HkBllCLO7
|
| What does that mean? Is it CPI? Is it consistent with worlds
| prices? Because of inflation prices go up over time. It goes up
| over time. Is the chart saying anything?
|
| Here's a good example of Bullshit Visualization's -
| https://xkcd.com/1138/
|
| It's things you'll see in the media/PR Journal articles that
| are nothing but look pretty and give a story a feel of
| authority when it shouldn't.
| OliverJones wrote:
| With respect, this author misunderstands Edward Tufte's use of
| the term "Chart junk." Chart junk isn't just pointless decoration
| on charts. It's also misleading or missing scales, deceptive or
| inept ways of representing data, and so forth.
| kristjansson wrote:
| Of course Tufte's body of work a whole, and VDQI in particular
| address those issues, but chartjunk is, in my reading, a
| specific and limited complaint. His leading two examples are
| unintended moire effect in cross hatching unnecessary grid
| lines. His third (the duck) is a bit more nebulous, but I read
| it as any sort of overly cute "we can so we did" effect on a
| visualization.
|
| The mortal sins of data visualization misrepresent the data;
| the venal sin of chartjunk distracts from the data.
| [deleted]
| gavinray wrote:
| Thanks for sharing this, gave me a smile and a good chuckle.
|
| Some other people who are knowledgeable in the domain have posted
| that there might be some rigor issues.
|
| But I think a lot of us can empathize with the feeling of _" No
| you idiot, that's not how you use that at all!"_ when it comes to
| some area we know more about than the average person.
|
| I'm pretty sure my car mechanic winces every time I bring my
| vehicle back into the shop. That's what I pay him for I guess.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| So disappointed :) I was hoping this was going to be a
| visualization _OF_ bullshit, not a rant about bullshit
| visualizations.
|
| All seriousness aside, Correll fails to realize that the layout,
| length, and organization of your text are _also_ forms of
| visualization, and at those, he fails completely.
|
| "It is my contention that many (most?) visualizations are
| bullshit in either the Frankfurt sense of attempting to persuade
| while being totally disconnected from notions of truths about the
| world, or in the Graeber sense of being created for no readily
| apparent purpose and to no real useful end."
|
| So he's shown us some erudition by throwing in Frankfurt &
| Graeber. Whoopee. When he mentions Tufte, a pioneer and a giant
| in his field, he's dismissive.
|
| All that said, there is some worthwhile stuff in here. He needs
| to study _The Elements of Style_ , hire an editor, and reduce it
| to a readable three pages or so, single-column.
| pc86 wrote:
| Have you ever read an academic paper? This is a pretty bog
| standard layout.
| aaron695 wrote:
| The recent/many old "Submarine cable map rendered onto a globe"
| is a good example of this.
|
| If there existed a good digital globe you could have in your
| house I'd have it as one of the skins, because it looks cool, but
| it is useless for learning about the true topography.
|
| Or a more obvious example the stupid sliding photos the media
| use. Before and after a storm or whatever. Actually hiding the
| data from you to get your dopamine up from making you slide to
| try and see it. Which if you view the media as just entertainment
| is ok.
| spenrose wrote:
| "In this unhinged rant, I lay out my suspicion that a lot of
| visualiza- tions are bullshit: charts that do not have even the
| common decency to intentionally lie but are totally unconcerned
| about the state of the world or any practical utility. I suspect
| that bullshit charts take up a large fraction of the time and
| attention of actual visualization pro- ducers and consumers, and
| yet are seemingly absent from academic research into
| visualization design. ... It is my contention that many (most?)
| visualizations are bullshit in either the Frankfurt sense of
| attempting to persuade while being totally disconnected from
| notions of truths about the world, or in the Graeber sense of
| being created for no readily apparent purpose and to no real
| useful end. When they inform, these bullshit charts do so in the
| most superficial and unsatisfying ways-- for instance, a bar
| chart might tell me that so-and-so many widgets were sold during
| a particular period of time"
| Tarq0n wrote:
| > "for instance, a bar chart might tell me that so-and-so many
| widgets were sold during a particular period of time"
|
| Funny, considering that's a core part of Tableau's value
| proposition.
| vanderZwan wrote:
| If their product becomes saturated with bullshit charts it
| will hurt them in the long run.
|
| Also, it's a sign that at the very least this person working
| there genuinely cares about the product they're selling, so
| that's good
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