DV

The island of knowledge and the shoreline of wonder

The knowledge that we have defines the knowledge that we can have… As knowledge shifts, we ask new kinds of questions that we couldn’t have anticipated.

All scientific knowledge that we have of this world, or will ever have, is as an island in the sea of mystery.

When our knowledge increases, the island of knowledge expands, but so did the shoreline of wonder, draining new land out of the sea of mystery.

The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.

Good data visualizations and explanation infographics communicate information and, as a result, they can increase our understanding, thereby increasing the island area and the shoreline.

Graphics may also prompt exploration.

Sadly, there are obstacles that hinder the expansion of the island of knowledge. Some of these obstacles arise from the territoriality of academic disciplines and the lack of communication between them.

There’s a deep difference between those who surrender to their own biases, or willingly embrace them, and those who work hard to identify and curb them, even if they’ll never completely succeed.

Many people aren’t in the business of expanding the island of knowledge by navigating beyond the shoreline of wonder. They are in the business of transforming that shoreline into a dark, impassable marsh.

Your goal, when reading visualizations, should be to expand the island of knowledge by exploring the mysteries that lie beyond the shoreline of wonder.

Why is this important?

As soon as you see a data graphic, you may not like the colors used in the data graphic and immediately form an opinion that it is a bad and ineffective. Once you already have an opinion after seeing it becomes difficult to learn something new. However, if you work hard and start reading the graphic, you might find that the graphic is highly effective and excellent, except for a slightly poor choice of colors. Instead, if you are not open, you will start to find every tiny error in the graphic to support your belief that the graphic isn’t great.

Additional resources (optional)

“What I see in nature is a magnificient structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility.” - Albert Einstein.