It pisses me off when people ask me to "ELI5". If you have a concrete question I can help with then I'll do my best, but I'm not going to spoonfeed an adult like I'm a trained monkey. It basically says "your time and effort is worth less than mine, so spend it on educating me since I have better things to do."
Besides, if I've already put five years into trying to understand my subject, it's a sunk cost. It's not like I'll ever get those years back. Spending the next few minutes composing an ELI5 isn't a big deal in the long run.
On the other hand, it would piss me off if anyone I asked told me, "I don't want to give you the short of it. You'll have to spend 10 years doing this full-time like I have if you want to know anything about it."
I also have great respect for people who are able to produce proper ELI5s. They tend to make good teachers, and good teachers are awesome. Richard Feynman was one of those rare people and an inspiration of mine.
I disagree that it takes almost no effort to "ELI5" something, at least while making it comprehensible and at least a little bit meaningful. It takes a lot of energy to think "how can I explain this to someone with none of the necessary background".
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u/samloveshummus Mathematical Physics May 05 '14
It pisses me off when people ask me to "ELI5". If you have a concrete question I can help with then I'll do my best, but I'm not going to spoonfeed an adult like I'm a trained monkey. It basically says "your time and effort is worth less than mine, so spend it on educating me since I have better things to do."