[dj-wonk]

I don't want to scroll away because I want to see when the mean value moves based on real data, not jitter.

One can convey mean and standard deviation without animation.

When something moves, the way it moves catches the eye. Arbitrary movement is wasted movement when it comes to conveying real information.

Take electron orbital clouds [1]. They are a nice way to show uncertainty with a static image and without animation. Indeed, an animation of an electron moving around would not the tell the story as effectively. A blurred probability cloud is a better way to do it to tell the story of probability.

Also, a blurred cloud is useful precisely because it does not imply that electrons follow predictable paths.

[1]: http://www.scottsmithonline.com/interests/medicalschool/biol...