Clearly you have to 'zero out' a graph for whatever the default state is. If I claimed otherwise, that was in error.
Yes, if the default value is -500, then setting your origin at 0 is going to cause confusion.
I think the problem in part here is that in academia you can make your publishing quota for a period of time on a 2% improvement to some process. In which case you're amplifying the outcomes as a form of self-promotion.
Rarely do software developers, city planners, or who knows what other professions are going to get any accolades or shifts in public opinion off 2% (unless it's taxes). In both cases you're trumping up the numbers. In one it's expected, and I think we can agree that things are perhaps not as they should be in the paper publishing circles without having to open that can of worms to define exactly why or in what ways.
Yes, if the default value is -500, then setting your origin at 0 is going to cause confusion.
I think the problem in part here is that in academia you can make your publishing quota for a period of time on a 2% improvement to some process. In which case you're amplifying the outcomes as a form of self-promotion.
Rarely do software developers, city planners, or who knows what other professions are going to get any accolades or shifts in public opinion off 2% (unless it's taxes). In both cases you're trumping up the numbers. In one it's expected, and I think we can agree that things are perhaps not as they should be in the paper publishing circles without having to open that can of worms to define exactly why or in what ways.