The lines make it easier for the eye to track from one point to the next of the same series.
They also make it easy to visually compare different wear patterns for different species, especially as the teeth are sorted back-to-front. For instance, on the mandible chart, the lines make it very easy to see that the teal, red, and blue lines have similar patterns.
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[ 2.1 ms ] story [ 40.8 ms ] threadNone of those graphs should be line graphs. There is no continuous X variable.
Yeah, checks out.
Pray tell, how else would you represent all this data?
It's not politics, they're not actively trying to mislead you here.
Choice ultimately down to personal preference.
In the meantime see comment upthread for a rationale[0]
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14555853
Could you explain why a line graph is bad for a discrete but ordered variable, like [Molars - Premolars - Canines - Incisors]?
They also make it easy to visually compare different wear patterns for different species, especially as the teeth are sorted back-to-front. For instance, on the mandible chart, the lines make it very easy to see that the teal, red, and blue lines have similar patterns.