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by jjgreen·10y ago·view on hn ↗
If the data is 3d, no objection. If the data is 2d then a 3d plot is redundant, usually ugly and prone to mislead (see "How to lie with statistics" and anything by Tufte).
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Could you explain "if the data is 3D"? Isn't it about how a presenter carves out the data for the presentation?

To explain my pov, I see that even if a multi-dimensional dataset is available, people still prefer to present a 2-Dimensional analysis of it.

And this is what I don't get. Is it due to the the lack of tooling or is it the fact that 2D graphs are just easier to grasp?

I mean: the independent variable is 2d and the dependent is 1d, like f(x, y), that's 3d data. By 2d I mean a pie-chart, which you _can_ display in 3d (by making a "thick pie"), but it is superfluous and detracts from the data.

I think 2d graphs are easier to graphs _are_ easier to grasp, and easier to make. Not sure tooling is the main issue, there's plenty of tools around to make 3d plots.