Prompts to Understand Complex Topics: Explain Like I'm 5

The fastest way to understand anything is to start with the simplest possible explanation and then climb the complexity ladder. AI can walk you up that ladder, one rung at a time, so you genuinely understand each layer before the next one is introduced.

1. Introduction

Have you ever read a paragraph five times and still felt nothing click? The problem is almost never your intelligence — it is the mismatch between the explanation's complexity and your current level of understanding. If someone explains calculus using algebra you have not learned yet, no amount of re-reading will help. AI lets you ask for the version of any explanation that matches exactly where you are right now. You are not stuck with the textbook's pace.

2. The Concept Explained

The "Explain Like I'm 5" (ELI5) technique is a way of deliberately lowering the abstraction level of an explanation until you reach something you can grasp. It does not mean talking down to you — it means removing jargon, using analogies from everyday life, and building from the ground up before adding complexity.

The full power of this approach is the complexity ladder: once you understand the ELI5 version, you ask for the ELI10 version, then the ELI20 version, and finally the expert version. Each step up adds one layer of nuance. By the time you reach the expert level, you understand why every piece of the explanation is there.

3. The Problem Without This Approach

Explain quantum entanglement.

Act as a science teacher who is brilliant
at explaining things simply.

I want to understand quantum entanglement.
Start at the very bottom: explain it like
I am 5 years old, using a real physical
object as an analogy. No physics jargon at all.

After I say "next", explain it as you would
to a curious 10-year-old.
After I say "next" again, explain it to
a high-school physics student.
Finally, explain it at undergraduate level.

Start with the ELI5 version now.

4. The Solution in Action

The complexity-ladder technique works for any subject. Here are more prompt patterns you can use immediately:

• Analogy request:

  Explain [concept] using only an analogy from cooking / sport / everyday life.

• Feynman check:

  Explain [concept] to me, then ask me three questions to check if I understood. If I get something wrong, explain that part again differently.

• Prerequisite map:

  What do I need to understand before I can understand [concept]? List the prerequisites in order.

• One-sentence version:

  Summarise [concept] in exactly one sentence a non-expert would understand.

5. Step-by-Step: Using the Complexity Ladder

1. Identify the concept. Be precise — not "explain chemistry" but "explain why ionic compounds dissolve in water".
2. Start at ELI5. Always. Even if you think you know a bit about the topic, the analogy often reveals gaps.
3. After each explanation, pause. Try to explain it back in your own words before asking for the next rung. This is the most important step for retention.
4. Ask "what am I missing?" After the expert explanation, ask:

   What nuance or common misconception did I probably not pick up from these explanations?

5. Test yourself. Ask AI to give you one problem or question based on what you just learned, before continuing.

6. Practice Exercises

Explain recursion in computer science using only the concept of Russian nesting dolls.

7. Key Takeaways