Info We Trust

by R J Andrews

  Our willingness to distinguish good and evil may be one of our most enhancing attributes, it is important to realize “good” and “bad” are categories we impose on the world—they are not of the world itself.

  ZANDER AND ZANDER, 2000

  The hero is the one who confronts the unknown, learns how to better navigate the chaos of reality, and shares the lesson with all. Imagine a monster invades your community. If you are strong and clever, you confront the brute, win the encounter, and deliver everyone out of danger. If you are lucky, you learn how to navigate that kind of threat. By facing the unknown, you gain some knowledge that will be useful in future encounters, and share the lesson. Everyone learns and advances by virtue of your heroic action.

  The heroes who dive into chaos to grapple with reality can gain great rewards. The mythical dragon is often portrayed as guarding gold or pearls. In mythology, the individual hero wins the treasure, is celebrated by the people, then parents future generations. Rescuing fair maidens is a dated trope, but we can still get the message: Across our evolution, those who figured out how to better manage reality are the ones who thrived. More importantly, the real treasure is not what is lavished upon the triumphant hero. The boon is the learning that the hero delivered to people. True heroes expand our collective body of knowledge.

  I am interested … because I want to learn something about the riddle of the world in which we live, and the riddle of man's knowledge of that world.

  KARL POPPER, 1958

  Dark and mysterious, but full of potential, data is the primordial soup of our age. It is the pool we must dive into, just as Beowulf dove underwater. Ancient heroes benefited from having brute strength and clever wits. Today, we have even more abilities to encounter and wrangle new understanding from chaos. But, like old mythology, for our gains to have meaning, they must be shared.

  The ways of seeing put forth are offered not as set steps to follow, but as an attitude—a means of orientation—A multidimensional compass, to help us find our way beyond the confines of “how it is,” and seek out new ways of being in directions not only northwards and upwards, but outwards, inwards, and in dimensions not yet within our imagination…

  NICK SOUSANIS, 2015

  There is a superficial contradiction between the archetypal images of data and story. Data evokes cinematic binary code falling down a computer screen. Story kindles memories of wisdom shared around the compfire. Story is easily understood as entertaining anecdotes. The word evokes predictable narrative arcs, the kind used in serial fiction to attract and hold attention. The same clichéd story is the sugar that makes lessons palatable. At its worst, the word puts objective rationalists on alert. We know story can be used to manipulate emotions and deceive. This conception of story is not incorrect, but it is incomplete. Story has a lot more to teach us about conveying information than mere conflict, climax, and resolution. We call narrative discourse “story,” but it is really only an input to the real story playing inside our heads. Our experience of time, and our ability to identify what matters, are two extraordinary aspects of our lived experience. On a timescale too short for us to discern, we perceive the world in sequence, and infuse it with significance. Story is how we make sense of these stimuli to our self: We perceive the world in the ordered moments that our senses detect and we assign meaning as we go. A coherent personal reality emerges and we act in relation to this inner monologue. Story is our believed truth. Without this reality-generating story, we would drown in the chaos of sensory overload.

  Explanations establish islands, even continents, of order and predictability. But these regions were first charted by adventurers whose lives are narratives of exploration and risk. They found them only by mythic journeys into the wayless open. … Knowledge is what successful explanation has led to; the thinking that sent us forth, however, is pure story.

  JAMES P. CARSE, 1986

  On a timescale too large for us to survive, story is also how we transmit knowledge and know-how across generations. Before I am gone, here is what you need to know. We exist somewhere between these meaningful moments and long arcs across millennia.

  The hero's journey, to adventure and back again, is one fitting metaphor for our encounters with data. Each time you wade into a dataset, make some sense of it, and relay that information to the world, it is like 2 a micro-dose of the hero's journey. You choose to confront the chaos of the unknown in hopes of delivering some order to society. The thrill of the adventure is always possible. Yet, the allure of the reward does not supersede the journey. We do not seek absolute order. The finitude of authoritarianism denies the richness of chance, diversity, and the ephemeral nature of being. Instead of arriving at some final order, we seek to straddle chaos and order to become conduits of meaning. In 1961's The Impact of Science on Myth, comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell described bringing scientific order to the world as a never-ending journey:

  And is there no implied intention, then to rest satisfied with some final body or sufficient number of facts? No indeed! There is to be only a continuing search for more—as of a mind eager to grow. And that growth, as long as it lasts, will be the measure of the life of modern Western man, and of the world with all its promise that he has broughtand is still bringing into being: which is to say, a world of change, new thoughts, new things, new magnitudes, andcontinuing transformation, not of petrification, rigidity, and some canonized found “truth.”

  1 Separation: a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder. 2 Initiation: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won. 3 Return: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

  JOSEPH CAMPBELL, 1949

  All utopias are depressing because they leave no room for chance, for difference, for the “miscellaneous.” Everything has been set in order and order reigns. Behind every utopia there is always some great taxonomic design: a place for each thing and each thing in its place.

  GEORGES PEREC, 1982

  Before we get too lost in the abstracts of adventure, I want to show you one of my favorite data stories. It is an incredible example of how a single image can arrange a complex topic into meaningful order. Take a moment to study the evolution of European armor shown on this page. See it through your own eyes, then we can examine how it works.

  The illustrations let us know at a glance that the topic we are dealing with is the age of knights. The dots that link the helmets suggest some logical relationship between them. Further inspection reveals that connected helmets look similar to one another. The graphic's branched structure looks like a biological evolutionary tree, reminding us that technology morphs over time too.

  This illustration is based on a hundred-year-old graphic by Bashford Dean, curator of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's arms and armor collection. I believe it is an elegant and effective composition because it has engaging depictions, a strong conceptual map, and enough marks (the helmets) to encourage confidence with the information. A tree with only eight helmets, each represented simply with a labeled circle, would not resonate with the same kind of power.

  Bashford Dean (1867–1928) was also a professor of vertebrate zoology at Columbia University and the first curator of fishes in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology.

  The helmets open a door to the history of armor, a field I never gave much thought to before seeing this graphic. Now, I wonder if the helmets changed because of new weapons, advances in metalworking, or changing fashion. How did helmets outside of Europe influence this evolution? Did variation result from countless warriors customizing their own gear, or the designs of a few centralized armorers? How did helmets continue to evolve toward those used by today's soldiers, builders, and athletes? Plenty of keywords afford opportunities to search and learn more.

  Many expressions have been used over time to label the craft that this book is about, often with a selection from the following words: analysis, commun
ication, data, design, discovery, facts, graphics, information, numbers, pictures, presentation, quantitative, storytelling, visualization.

  I can barely fathom the knowledge, creativity, and skill it took to produce this work. To complete data-driven hero cycles you must straddle fields that are far apart. You will need to study hard and soft sciences and the visual and communication arts. Any of these alone may not be enough to seize and deliver the treasure. History is littered with facts and figures that failed to convey understanding.

  The interdisciplinary nature of data storytelling is quantitative and poetic, machine and human. It is a character profile that reminds me of the scientific explorers of the 1800s. Aspiring to the image of polymath Alexander von Humboldt or medical pioneer Florence Nightingale makes data storytelling seductive. A certain zeal comes with knowing that so many of humanity's tools are at your fingertips. It is your role to determine how to wield them in concert.

  Each field has its own concept of graphic methods and standards of presentation and its own identifying codes, nomenclatures, or symbols.

  MARY ELEANOR SPEAR, 1969

  All this excitement also reveals why the craft is as formidable as it is enticing. Becoming functional in an assortment of disciplines is hard. Data processing is hard. Scientific discovery is hard. Awakening others to new realities is hard. The battle against the chaos of data is complex. And that is the magic of it all. When you venture into the craft of data storytelling, you are doing so with the knowledge that you cannot be an expert in all the skills it demands. Proceeding despite these deficiences takes some real heart.

  Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one, literally “with heart” from Latin word for heart, cor.

  You may call the craft something else. Perhaps you prefer data visualization, data journalism, dashboard design, or infographic creation. The craft waves many banners across various communities. What matters is that you are courageously confronting the chaos of it all to improve how people see the world. That is the goal.

  Our Plan of Adventure

  This book is not an anthology of past projects nor is it a singular “big insight” book. It is not a history book, textbook, or handbook—although aspects of these genres play their roles. So, what kind of book are you holding?

  Info We Trust is a multi-sensory voyage through the craft of data storytelling. It is organized by a philosophy of information. This understanding connects fundamentals of experience to the great saga of civilization. We will begin with numbers. Then, step-by-step, stretch all the way to creating new knowledge. One consequence of this elemental approach is that the character of the first chapters is relatively stark. They focus on the bare-bones contrast between data and information. Do not despair at the initial abundance of antiquity. We are merely setting the table for the feast that follows. Read the book straight through to appreciate the narrative of the data storyteller as a hero of the information age.

  The illustrations, text, and marginalia provide multiple narratives for you to venture through.

  All marginalia quotes are italicized. See the end notes for a thorough review of all referenced work.

  This book is empowering. It is rich with practical details that you can use to construct new ways of seeing the world. When you flip through, on your first glance or later on, this is the knowledge that jumps out. Individual chapters and many page spreads can stand on their own as helpful references. Information consumers, information operators, and veteran data storytellers will all discover new ways to bring meaning into our lives. I hope to embolden you to take action and do great things with data.

  There is an outline of how this was all composed at the back of the book for those interested in the journey that brought it into the world.

  This book elevates enduring principles of information design. It grew over the last decade of my work as a data storyteller and my study as devoted disciple of the craft. The book's implicit dialog is between hundreds of years' worth of visual information pioneers and me, drawing on my own experience producing many data projects. The point of this intersection is not to chronicle history or peer at dusty charts. The aim is to elevate timeless principles for creating new ways of looking at the world. Many lessons learned while informing past generations still rule. Today, these enduring principles can guide us in an age where information is so unconstrained that it can be overwhelming.

  Without spoiling any of the surprises, I would like you to know that we are going to travel to some marvelous places together. If you would like to read additional chapter-by-chapter signposting, I encourage you to return to the table of contents, which maps the sequential journey ahead. By the book's end, I hope you join me in pursuit of wonderful ways of looking at the world.

  We can all be heroes who embrace the chaos and potential of data for the greater benefit. It is now time for us to step forward together. As J.R.R. Tolkien's grey wizard beckoned, standing at the threshold: I am looking for someone to share in an adventure.

  CHAPTER

  1

  DATA SHADOWS

  Matter and all else that is in the physical world have been reduced to a shadowy symbolism. … The scientific answer is relevant so far as concerns the sense-impressions interlocked with the stirring of the spirit, which indeed form an important part of the mental content. For the rest the human spirit must turn to the unseen world to which it itself belongs.

  ARTHUR EDDINGTON, 1929

  The value of a fact shrinks enormously without context.

  HOWARD WAINER, 1997

  On the evening of October 24, 1962, James Brown and the Famous Flames performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. It was a brief show by the standards of today's arena extravaganzas. They performed a dozen songs. None of them were new.

  The concert recording was initially shelved. But, pressed by Brown's manager, King Records yielded and produced the album. Live at the Apollo was released the following year. It did incredible business. The album stayed on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart for over a year, helping launch James Brown to R&B superstardom. Listen to that album today; his voice, the band's syncopated kicks, and the screams of the crowd still thrust you into the energy of that Harlem night. The context that swirls around Live at the Apollo elevates it to legend. It is a time capsule of pure American rhythm and blues, bottled 15 months before Beatlemania landed and swept the United States. Today, we now know how music, and James Brown, soared throughout the 1960s. That knowledge makes this early influential show at the Apollo even more special.

  How do we think about the albums we love? A lonely microphone in a smoky recording studio? A needle's press into hot wax? A rotating can of magnetic tape? A button that clicks before the first note drops? No! The mechanical ephemera of music's recording, storage, and playback may cue nostalgia, but they are not where the magic lies. The magic is in the music. The magic is in the information that the apparatuses capture, preserve, and make accessible. It is the same with all information. When you envision data, do not get stuck in encoding and storage. Instead, try to see the music.

  A Curious World

  When we create a statistical chart, we intuit that there is something magical about arranging data into forms that can be seen. But this notion is incomplete. It misses that data originates in the physical world. A song recording did not materialize from the ether. The song was once sung by a real person, in a real room. Likewise, our craft does not just make the invisible, seen. It makes a past reality real again.

  Better data stories result when we recognize the material origins of data. Better data stories result when we appreciate how our mind interacts with the physical environment. When we acknowledge the life that produced data—the real life we see and feel—then we can better comprehend the abstract ecosystems of mathematics, statistics, and data.

  Our perspective is anchored to our body and the things it encounters. Early words named objects in the physical world. As we took more notice of how physical things change over time, o
ur language and our consciousness grew. Actions—relationships between people, objects, and environment—were named, too. Human perspective stretched outward to describe invisible social, political, and economic systems. Human perspective stretched inward to account for how these processes make us feel. Together, our experiences of physical and invisible phenomena evolved. Personal mental maps of reality and identity emerged.

  …the truth is nothing other than the shadows of artificial things … Take a man who is released and suddenly compelled to stand up, to turn his neck around, to walk and look up toward the light; and who, moreover, in doing all this is in pain and, because he is dazzled, is unable to make out those things whose shadows he saw before. What do you supposed he'd say if someone were to tell him that before he saw silly nothings, while, now because he is somewhat nearer to what is and more turned toward beings, he sees more correctly…

  SOCRATES TO GLAUCON, THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO

  Our curiosity drives us to achieve better maps of the world because they give us a competitive advantage against nature and against one another. They expand our knowledge into new domains, those of ourselves as individuals and those of our collective society. In some instances, this drive is a motivated search for answers. In others, clarity emerges organically from the chaotic environment. Curiosity sharpens the resolution of our understanding.