indexed

I would have drawn it the other way. You cannot have setbacks unless you have expectations so expectations and setbacks share a linear relationship.

you've drawn it wrong btw :)

I actually think this one is amazingly true -- the higher the expectations, the less you let potential setbacks hold you up. The lower the expectations on a project, the more likely you are to stop at any spped bump.

There are myriad builders, developers, and architects who need that tattooed backwards on their foreheads, so that they see it every time they look in a mirror.

I think you got this one right... at least here at my job, as setbacks increase, my expectations for the project drop.

hey.

have been following your iconic blog for a long time now. this one bought to mine a favorite quote of mine-

“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed”
(Sylvia Plath)

programmerman1- you're doing it wrong. X axis is independent, Y is dependent. I also thought at first the labels should be switched, but this seems to work as well.

You guys are overthinking it.

As setbacks mount expectations fall. Until at some point the setbacks fail to bother you anymore and your response slowly goes from "How terrible!" to "Meh, whatever, :/ "

At least that's how it is for me.

Good one Jessica. I resemble that remark.

I am enjoying your posts. :) This one was especially appropriate for this week.

I love the number of people who read a blog strip based around graphs who can't get it straight that the y axis is dependent on the x axis.

To the last anonymous:
lots of graphs use y as independent and x as dependent (e.g. graphing something like pressure as a function of depth below ground surface makes more sense that way).
But here there are interesting interpretations either way.

i think expectations and setbacks share an exponentially increasing relation, not exponetially decreasing one. i've got a mathematical idea for that too, but wondering what your reasoning behind this was. perhaps, you could write a short note about it.

mithun.sridharan- This is not an exponential relationship that is graphed. For it to be exponential it would have to increase at an increasing rate (aka the line would curve). This graph increases at a proportional rate making it linear (aka a line).

Anonymous, I personally think and interpret that the relation should be exponential. If not for no other reason, the relationship could be modeled using a non-linear approach. I'm unsure if my assumption is valid, but in case I am wrong, please let me know of your analysis.