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• @weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-08 23:40

  @ftp_alun @ColinTheMathmo @vpunt It's because Excel is trying to be "helpful" by intervening to CHANGE YOUR DATA WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE, and there was for approximately 20 years NO WAY TO TURN IT OFF. The result is nonsensical gene names in approximately 30% of all papers about genes, because you CANNOT pry Excel out of people's hands even after they see the damage it does. I think a data analysis tool should respect data WAY more than that! Excel fits the term "data analysis tool" loosely at best, but it's the tool to hand and what people will use if they don't know better. Ask @louisepryor sometime about her days as an actuary, patiently explaining to bankers why they can't write massively complex spreadsheets and expect anything other than disaster. Financial analysis is exactly the intended application of spreadsheets, after all. (Oh, and source control too. Much of the world's financial system apparently used to run without source control. *Exactly* which version was running? Nobody was quite sure...)

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