Episode 65: Cones of Uncertainty

The forecast cone used by meteorologists to show the possible path of a hurricane is also known as the cone of uncertainty. Like the twitchy gauge from 2016 election, it combines “precision with uncertainty in a maddening way,” Michael says.

Jessica responds:

Design gives the illusion that you’ve created order out of chaos. And it is an illusion…. It’s almost like design as a kind of national therapy at this moment of emotional, psychological, perceptual, unpredictable unrest in so many dimensions of what’s going on. I don’t know that we are deserving of the role of reassuring the public in this way, with curves and cones.

Also mentioned this week: