[R] Opinion on R plots: connecting X and Y

[Inman, Brant A. M.D.]

Attention R users, especially those that are experienced enough to be
opinionated, I need your input.

Consider the following simple plot:

x <- rnorm(100)
y <- rnorm(100)
plot(x, y, bty='n')

A colleague (and dreaded SAS user) commented that she thought that my
plots could be "cleaned up" by connecting the X and Y axes.  I know that
I can do that with bty='l' but I don't want to, I find that the plots
look less cluttered with disjoint axes.

However, I was intrigued enough by her comments that I decided to
solicit the opinions of others on this issue.  Are there principled
reasons why one should prefer joined axes or disjoint axes?

Brant Inman