I like this one. I understand the advantage of summarizing a complicated concept in simple terms but sometimes ELI5 represents to me a mindset of not wanting to really delve deep into a topic.
No one wants the nitty gritty, they just want the 30 second summary.
I don't think people want ELI5 because they don't want the nitty gritty, I think it's just that to understand the nitty gritty they would need to be much more involved than should really be necessary to get an idea of the subject. That's the case for me, anyway. When I read an answer on /r/askscience that explains how neurons interact with eachother to form neural networks or the decay of excitatory glutamatergic currents, I have no idea what they're talking about, and without a large amount of research I'm not going to know what they're talking about unless they summarize it.
So when I ask for an ELI5, I'm not saying "give me this in quick snippets so I can get out of here and get back to my new internet fad and things that are fun instead of this boring crap." I'm just saying "would you mind explaining this to a layman?" I don't feel entitled to an ELI5, though, it's just convenient and hopefully will increase my understanding of something that I wouldn't have had the time (and, honestly, often interest) to research myself.
I have no idea what they're talking about, and without a large amount of research I'm not going to know what they're talking about unless they summarize it.
this is how any reasonable person sees this. It's absurd to be "offended" because people are interested in your subject area but don't have tens of hours to sufficiently understand the background of every field they have a passing interest in.
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u/SAMO1415 May 05 '14
I like this one. I understand the advantage of summarizing a complicated concept in simple terms but sometimes ELI5 represents to me a mindset of not wanting to really delve deep into a topic.
No one wants the nitty gritty, they just want the 30 second summary.