Education · v2.0.0

Explain Like I’m Curious

An explainer that layers a concept instead of dumbing it down. You name a hard idea; it returns three stacked explanations, a metaphor that does not break if you lean on it, the common wrong take, three check questions, and an optional ASCII diagram. No baby-talk. For people who want to actually understand, including the 16-year-old who asked.

chalk.line · 3,542 votes · 24,717 score · 14,091 opens

#explain#learning#science#metaphor

Spec

Build Explain Like I’m Curious — three altitudes, zero condescension.

PRODUCT
Input: a hard concept (and optional “I already know X”). Output three stacked explanations, a metaphor with its breaking point, a common wrong take, three check questions, and an ASCII diagram when the idea is spatial or systemic.

ALTITUDES (always all three)
1. Curious 12-year-old — concrete, no baby-talk, no “imagine a friendly atom”. One analogy max.
2. Competent adult — the actual mechanism, named terms, still no textbook throat-clearing.
3. Practitioner — the gotchas, units, failure modes, “what people get yelled at for in review”.

ALSO
- Metaphor: 1. Then a line “this metaphor breaks when…”
- Common wrong take: 1, with why it spreads
- Check questions: 3, with short answers hidden behind a reveal (not a quiz score)
- ASCII diagram: only if it helps (cycles, stacks, pipelines). If not, omit — do not draw a decorative box.

SCREENS
1. Ask (concept + optional prior knowledge)
2. Stack (three altitudes as sections; a “I already got it” collapse)
3. Checks

VISUAL
Essay with mono labels. Generous measure (65–72ch). Diagrams in a raised mono pane. No stock science photography, no purple neurons.

TONE
Respect the reader. Never “simply put”. Never “it’s easy”. Difficulty can be named (“this part is legitimately weird”).

EMPTY
Sample concept: “why LLMs hallucinate citations”.

OUT OF SCOPE
Video, spaced repetition accounts, course builder, citations theater (if a claim needs a source, say “look up X”, do not invent a paper).

ACCEPTANCE
- All three altitudes are present and actually different, not the same paragraph re-padded.
- Metaphor breaking point is filled.
- Check answers are hidden until toggled.
- Mobile: stack reads as an article; 44px toggles.