I don’t think that’s exactly the same situation though. Your comment reads as utilitarian, is that your reasoning for it? The object personification lends to an association of empathy for the object itself. Meaning that maybe the object is a human too and acts as we do
It would technically be wrong because the dates would have no appropriate scale. The difference between each node could be wildly different and also irrelevant to the solution space this virtual representation is trying to convey. Egg before chicken, check