Stupid Data Tricks
December 31, 2015 1:11 PM Subscribe
Andrei Scheinkman at 538: “We made more than 1,500 charts in 2015 at FiveThirtyEight. Many were bar charts, line charts and scatterplots — but not all. Here are [47] of the more unusual graphics we published.”
Scheinkman’s last article for 538 came out one year ago: “Our 33 Weirdest Charts from 2014”
Scheinkman’s last article for 538 came out one year ago: “Our 33 Weirdest Charts from 2014”
Based on the worst games ever made chart, I have to ask: "War; what is it good for?"
posted by TedW at 1:27 PM on December 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by TedW at 1:27 PM on December 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
The chart of land elevations in New Orleans really emphasized what a terrible place it was to build a city of any size. Pretty much everywhere I ever laps to time growing up there was the bright orange that indicated "several feet below sea level".
posted by egypturnash at 1:31 PM on December 31, 2015
posted by egypturnash at 1:31 PM on December 31, 2015
TedW: absolutely nothing.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:45 PM on December 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 1:45 PM on December 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
News: "Way More People are Dead than Alive"
posted by kiltedtaco at 1:52 PM on December 31, 2015
posted by kiltedtaco at 1:52 PM on December 31, 2015
More pr0n ... for the graphic sects.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:23 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:23 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
News: "Way More People are Dead than Alive"
Not if you are on Riverworld.
posted by hippybear at 2:42 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not if you are on Riverworld.
posted by hippybear at 2:42 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
"War; what is it good for?"
About five minutes if you're eight years old.
I like the "Way more people dead or alive" chart. Maybe I get upset over weird things, but I once reasoned that, if more people are alive now than had lived in the past, then if you consider your birth to be a random lottery drawing from among all the people who have lived and will ever live, the chances are pretty high that, if the human race encounters a massive die off, that I would be around to experience it. Knowing that there are far more people dead than alive comforts weirdly-upsetable-younger-me, because it means, while there's a lot of people now, it's still not significant compared to all the people there have ever been.
(Begin critiquing of the cognitive errors in this assumption... now!)
posted by JHarris at 3:25 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
About five minutes if you're eight years old.
I like the "Way more people dead or alive" chart. Maybe I get upset over weird things, but I once reasoned that, if more people are alive now than had lived in the past, then if you consider your birth to be a random lottery drawing from among all the people who have lived and will ever live, the chances are pretty high that, if the human race encounters a massive die off, that I would be around to experience it. Knowing that there are far more people dead than alive comforts weirdly-upsetable-younger-me, because it means, while there's a lot of people now, it's still not significant compared to all the people there have ever been.
(Begin critiquing of the cognitive errors in this assumption... now!)
posted by JHarris at 3:25 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
News: "Way More People are Dead than Alive"
I thought that was funny too, but it does starkly address a common misconception.
posted by treepour at 3:26 PM on December 31, 2015
I thought that was funny too, but it does starkly address a common misconception.
posted by treepour at 3:26 PM on December 31, 2015
Can we talk about Matt Damon? He's not really my type, but I feel this important research deserves a shout-out.
posted by yarntheory at 11:59 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by yarntheory at 11:59 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
ocherdraco: Say it again!
posted by TedW at 12:44 AM on January 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 12:44 AM on January 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
The delight in some of these is clicking through to figure out just why they wanted that particular chart and what context it was in. Did not expect the Pareto-optimized restaurant graph to lead to a survey of the Republican presidential candidate field.
Also, this one on Thanksgiving side dishes says the west coast brings salad to Thanksgiving dinner. As a Californian, this is vastly disappointing.
posted by spitefulcrow at 2:28 AM on January 1, 2016
Also, this one on Thanksgiving side dishes says the west coast brings salad to Thanksgiving dinner. As a Californian, this is vastly disappointing.
posted by spitefulcrow at 2:28 AM on January 1, 2016
The gender pay gap chart is interesting, but I hoped the article would explain the odd shape. Any ideas why 50% pulls left like that?
posted by Horselover Fat at 12:24 PM on January 1, 2016
posted by Horselover Fat at 12:24 PM on January 1, 2016
Statistical noise probably. The difference between 82.9 and 83.4 is tiny.
posted by Justinian at 1:19 PM on January 1, 2016
posted by Justinian at 1:19 PM on January 1, 2016
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posted by Nelson at 1:19 PM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]