This article significantly challenges my understanding of data visualization as it brings up a new humanistic approach to constructing and interpreting graphical displays. I consider data as intrinsically quantitative - self-evident, value-neutral, and observer-independent. While individuals may interpret a bar chart, a pie chart, or many other commonly known visualized data graphs in their way, the graphs usually communicate a concrete meaning that the author intended to convey. But, as Drucker mentioned, This belief excludes the possibilities of conceiving data as qualitative, co-dependently constituted. It is not easy for me, and maybe for most of us, to accept the ambiguity of knowledge, the fundamentally interpreted condition on which data is constructed. Data is capta.

But Drucker’s arguments are well supported. From a humanistic perspective, all metrics are metrics about something for some purpose. I like the example of counting the number of novels published in a given year. While data from a bar chart could indicate the number of novels published in a year, a humanistic graphical display could show a much more comprehensive story in relation to the time of writing, acquisition, editing, pre-press work, and the release. Alongside, the example of three people who have variations in perception waiting for a bus is also very interesting. I like the consideration of different variables in a context than a mere number/data. Here, space is a factor of X where fearfulness, anxiety, anticipation, distraction, or dalliance are variables.

Last but not least, Dr. John Snow’s chart tracing the source of epidemic outbreaks and geographical location reminds me of the data around COVID-19 we have observed over the past years. Yes, each dot represents life and none of these are identical. A single dot cannot express how each outbreak impacts an individual, their degrees of vulnerability, the impact of their illness, effect on the family and loved ones. We need to constantly remind ourselves that many demographic features could be layered into the map to create a more complex statistical view of the epidemic. I believe that this is the magic of a humanistic approach to graphical display.