udont's blurblog

Like I'm Five
Wednesday May 7^th, 2014 at 3:31 AM

'Am I taking care of you? I have a thesis to write!' 'My parents are at their house; you visited last--' 'No, no, explain like you're five.'

Read the whole story

udont

3634 days ago

I think it is great phrase to use and I am not going to hesitate using it. I don't think it makes me look dumb.

3 public comments

Romanikque

3634 days ago

Leave Denzel alone! Leave him alone!

Baltimore, MD

sulrich

3636 days ago

it's nice to see at least a hint of backlash against the dumbing down of everything.

nickoneill

3636 days ago

Disagree entirely. A lot of ELI5 is not dumbing down, it's dejargonizing topics that are hard to understand without significant experience in the field.

benzado

3636 days ago

Can you explain "dejargonizing" like I'm five?

hobbified

3636 days ago

@nickoneill: which creates more people who falsely believe they understand, but not more understanding.

stefanetal

3636 days ago

"creates more people who falsely believe they understand." Yes! Management by powerpoint illusion of understanding.

DiscoStud

3635 days ago

I am not sure I understand why people are upset at the idea of trying to help explain complex topics to people who might not understand every aspect of it. For every person who "falsely believes they understand" a topic might there be people who are more engaged and interested in a topic that had previously been obtuse to them?

stefanetal

3635 days ago

It's the 'things should be as simple as possible and no simpler' issue --- you can be pushed into 'fake explanations' that are misleading, especially if you need to get something approved/sold.

benzado

3635 days ago

I don't think anybody is upset about trying to effectively communicate complex topics. What's problematic is "like I'm five", which is sometimes the right level of complexity, but more often not. Depending on the context is can be mildly insulting to one or both parties, and it also suggests that the burden is entirely on the person giving the explanation, rather than the listener making an effort to understand.

discostu

3634 days ago

Except as nickoneil points out, most explanations on r/eli5 are not actually for 5 year olds and mostly de-jargonized and accessible. They may lack a lot of the subject's nuisance, but they are not insulting.

colaco

3636 days ago

Alt-text: "'Am I taking care of you? I have a thesis to write!' 'My parents are at their house; you visited last--' 'No, no, explain like you're five.'"

Amora, Setubal, Portugal