Huh? What is this?
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Huh? What is this?
 
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Below is this morning's front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican. It is obviously trying to give the virus story big play. But I can't figure out what in hell this map and all its appendages are trying to tell me. I might be missing something big time, but shouldn't this be nominated as the worst data visualization of the year?
 Tom Johnson - tom@... Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) NM Foundation for Open Government Check out It's The People's Data ============================================ - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ |
Re: Huh? What is this?
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Worst? Hey, there must be mammoth competition for that slot! Here, the numbering of counties has no information content--geography north to south? Nada. George Duncan Emeritus Professor of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University georgeduncanart.com See posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Land: (505) 983-6895 Mobile: (505) 469-4671
My art theme: Dynamic exposition of the tension between matrix order and luminous chaos. "Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion."From "Notes to myself on beginning a painting" by Richard Diebenkorn.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 9:35 AM Tom Johnson <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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In reply to this post by Tom Johnson
Tom, I only read the webedition, and so don’t have the front page in front of me, but the message seemed clear to me. BE AFRAID. If we are learning one lesson from this pandemic, it is that lack of fear is the primary driver of rising case numbers. Public policy has relatively little effect unless it increases fear. And robust terror makes public policy unnecessary. What did you NOT see that I did see? My candidate for the worst graphic is below.
Looking at this I would assume that we are out of the woods. In fact, the current rolling 7-day average is about 140 cases, more that 10 times what it should be. I think the downward tail of the graph reflects only incomplete data. I have been frustrated by the state’s web page because it seems to emphasize cumulative cases at the expense of current cases and new cases per population. Another bizarre data point appeared in the Gating criteria yesterday, where the current Ro was given as 0.97! I think the City needs to run fumigation trucks up and don the streets or city workers with back packs and nosles . They could be just emitting water vapor, perhaps with a little corotene thrown in for dramatic effect? Nick Nicholas Thompson Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology Clark University https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Tom Johnson Below is this morning's front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican. It is obviously trying to give the virus story big play. But I can't figure out what in hell this map and all its appendages are trying to tell me. I might be missing something big time, but shouldn't this be nominated as the worst data visualization of the year?
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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Nick: I attached the image of the front page. You should be able to see it on your computer. As I said, it seems to be the year's worst data viz of the year. T ============================================ Tom Johnson - tom@... Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) NM Foundation for Open Government Check out It's The People's Data ============================================ On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 11:25 AM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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In reply to this post by thompnickson2
Fear could solve the problem, but there will probably never be enough. Maybe it would make sense to distribute suitable antidepressants so that people could function without social interaction. Thanksgiving behavior seemed particularly
nutty. The drive to socially interact seems to be a big problem. From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of
[hidden email] Tom,
I only read the webedition, and so don’t have the front page in front of me, but the message seemed clear to me. BE AFRAID. If we are learning one lesson from this pandemic, it is that lack of fear is the primary driver of rising case
numbers. Public policy has relatively little effect unless it increases fear. And robust terror makes public policy unnecessary. What did you NOT see that I did see?
My candidate for the worst graphic is below.
Looking at this I would assume that we are out of the woods. In fact, the current rolling 7-day average is about 140 cases, more that 10 times what it should be. I think the downward tail of the graph reflects only incomplete data.
I have been frustrated by the state’s web page because it seems to emphasize cumulative cases at the expense of current cases and new cases per population.
Another bizarre data point appeared in the Gating criteria yesterday, where the current Ro was given as 0.97! I think the City needs to run fumigation trucks up and don the streets or city workers with back packs and nosles . They could be just emitting water vapor, perhaps with a little corotene thrown in for dramatic effect? Nick Nicholas Thompson Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology Clark University https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[hidden email]>
On Behalf Of Tom Johnson Below is this morning's front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican. It is obviously trying to give the virus story big play. But I can't figure out what in hell this map and all its appendages are trying to tell me. I might be missing something
big time, but shouldn't this be nominated as the worst data visualization of the year?
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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In reply to this post by Tom Johnson
Hi, Tom, I guess I have to confess that I don’t see why you found it so offensive. I feel like a damned fool asking you, but maybe “damned fool” is my role on this list and I should play it with joy and conviction. Please explain, as to a child. Nick Nicholas Thompson Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology Clark University https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Tom Johnson Nick: T
============================================ On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 11:25 AM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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As another damned fool myself, I also didn't see what was so bad about it. The circled numbers on the map correspond to the little tables surrounding the map. The only thing I found arbitrary was how the numbers in the circles were chosen. I assume they were just arbitrary. On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 2:23 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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In reply to this post by thompnickson2
Because I couldn't figure out the rationale for the map and numbering. What do the numbers 1 through 15 of the counties, and placement of those numbers on the map, have to do with any of the variables listed for each county? TJ ============================================ Tom Johnson - tom@... Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) NM Foundation for Open Government Check out It's The People's Data ============================================ On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 12:23 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Re: Huh? What is this?
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Thanks, Tom, Ah. I see. So if one takes the numbering as anything but arbitrary, it is misleading. Perhaps better if the counties had been numbered by degree of redness? I still think this one is much more dangerous. It lulls the reader into complacency when it should alarm! Thanks for explaining your perplexity. We agree that the situation is terrifying and is likely to be so until two weeks after New Year’s Eve.
Nicholas Thompson Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology Clark University https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Tom Johnson Because I couldn't figure out the rationale for the map and numbering. What do the numbers 1 through 15 of the counties, and placement of those numbers on the map, have to do with any of the variables listed for each county? TJ
============================================ On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 12:23 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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