Benefits of visual remix
McCandless, a journalist turned “data detective,” notes that we are inundated with information on a daily basis. As a journalist, McCandless was frustrated with the disconnected facts and figures scattered across many different stories. Data visualization, he argues, gives those facts and figures crucial context; it provides a narrative that helps us make sense of otherwise isolated information. Although McCandless doesn’t use the term “remix,” he is essentially remixing purely textual information into a visual mode, such as his “Billion Dollar Gram,” which pulls figures from many different news stories to show the relative costs of various industries, governments, and initiatives. Where else could you see the cost of the yoga industry compared to donations for saving the Amazon rain forest?
As you watch McCandless’s TedTalk “The Beauty of Data Visualization” (embedded below) consider how visual representation changes the way we understand information and ideas. You can stop watching at about the 13:00 minute mark.
