ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5
Do you demand a simple and concise explanation of complicated and complex topics?
Fret not, dear voater, for ELI5 is here! Ask a complex question, and get a simple answer!
General guidelines:
Your explanation should be friendly and straightforward, but not condescending.
- 1.1. Above all, you're here to answer questions concisely. Don't get needlessly hostile or complicated in your response.
- 1.2. We aren't literally 5 year olds. Well, most of us aren't. We can handle big words and long sentences. There's no need to dumb down an explanation unless specifically asked to do so by the asker.
- 1.3. If specified by the asker, responses to particular levels of expertise are encouraged.
/v/ELI5 is a place to get simple explanations of complex topics.
- 2.1. Yes/no answer questions, and questions pursuing an answer without an explanation of that answer, are not allowed.
- 2.2: If it doesn't have an explanation, it isn't an explain like I'm five question.
- 2.3. Refrain from posing hypothetical or personal questions. Ideally, every question should have a factually based, reasonable explanation.
Feel free to send prohibited questions to /v/nostupidquestions, they'll help you out instead!
This isn't a debating subverse:
- 3.1. Don't ask for personal opinions (and don't ask potentially loaded questions)
- 3.2. Don't present a biased response
Top-level comments should be on-topic.
- 4.1. Self-explanatory, really.
- 4.2. Jokes are allowed and appreciated if they're on topic and not a whole top-level comment.
Someone came here for an answer, don't send them somewhere else.
- 5.1. Your response should not consist wholly of a redirection link within a sentence.
- 5.2. It is acceptable to link to outside sources for singular words or concepts. This can be done to save you explaining concepts that are non-central (yet still important) to your response.
- 5.3. Don't copy+paste from outside sources without paraphrasing. Outside sources don't always explain concepts in layman's terms.
Don't know? Don't teach.
- 6.1. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't try to teach someone else about it.
You are allowed to post a question that's been posted before, but to save your own time, search for it before posting anyway.
Tag your post as "Explained" once you're satisfied with an answer
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[–] vaporwaif 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago (edited ago)
Irony of ironies: I am going to link you to a tumblr to explain the negative connotations in meme form. "Social Justice" is sort of like a new phrase for political correctness- it is based on the idea that all human beings are equally worthwhile and that instead of being gender-blind and racially-blind we should be aware of these differences to be able to best treat each other like complex human beings having a complex human experience.
"Social Justice Advocate" is what you might call someone who is into Social Justice in a positive, helpful way. The type of person who regularly uses "Social Justice Warrior" as a pejorative is referring to the sort of person who might suggest that your post is "able-ist" for trying to explain the sociopath experience from a neurotypical standpoint and in turn that your post is appropriative.
SJWs mean well. However, in any situation where someone believes that their opinion is objectively correct and objectively "right" in ways that have to do with kindness, acting like an aggressive and un-self-aware fascist is a possibility - this is why websites like Voat are so hostile towards "SJWs" - it can be construed that making rules based around social justice is antithetical to free speech. This is why "Fat People Hate" getting shut down was such a big deal."
Probably the most important part of the SJW v. Anti-SJW culture-war is to remember your own value system and take it seriously. Both sides will declare their viewpoints as objectively right and the other side as ridiculous, fascist, and incorrect. It's easy to get caught up in a weird hostile binary - it's best not to. If you believe in social justice and you do not act like a caricature of your viewpoints, you will know it is wrong when someone tries to shut you down for being an SJW. If you believe most of the tenets of social justice are incorrect or overly idealistic but you are generally respectful to other humans, you will know it is wrong when someone calls you some kind of bigot.
[–] GoatBeard [S] ago
Thank you, this has been the most enlightening answer, so far.
I do believe its a very badly coined term, though.
[–] praguepride ago
This one's one of my favorites