The Explanation Ladder Challenge

Steps

1. 01Pick a concept you genuinely understand

   You need to be able to judge whether the simplified version is still true. Choose something from your own field — accuracy at the simple end is the hard part and you cannot assess it in an unfamiliar subject.

2. 02Get four versions in one go

   Specify each audience by what they already know, not by age or label.

   Prompt Copy

   Explain [concept] four times, for these four readers:
   1. Someone who has never heard the term and knows nothing adjacent to it
   2. Someone who knows the neighbouring concepts but not this one
   3. A practitioner who uses it but has never studied why it works
   4. A specialist who wants the precise formulation
   
   Rules: each version must be accurate — do not trade truth for simplicity. Where you must simplify, say what you left out. Maximum 120 words each.

3. 03Grade version one for truth

   Read the simplest version and ask: is anything here actually wrong? Most "explain like I am five" output contains at least one statement that is false rather than simplified. Find it.

4. 04Fix it with a constraint, not a complaint

   Do not say "that is wrong". Add a rule that prevents the class of error — for example, "never use an analogy that implies the parts move independently". Rules generalise; corrections do not.

If you want to go further

• Try it with a concept you only half understand, then check the specialist version with someone who knows

Try next