What makes a word explanation good?

• Establishes the prerequisites/background the reader needs, and then builds on that background
• Simulates the reader's inexperienced state of mind
  • Anticipates common misinterpretations/misconceptions and counters them
  • Does not assume infinite working memory (what goes wrong when this is violated: Unbounded working memory assumption in explanations)
  • When different words/terms/phrases are used to point to the same idea, this is explicitly pointed out (synonyms are very common even in technical fields!)
  • When the same word/term/phrase is used to refer to different ideas, this is pointed out (this is also very common even in technical fields!)
• Considers all or many permutations of ideas (see permutation trick for a similar idea)
• Alternates between concrete and abstract
• Actually gives a precise/technical/gears-level/mechanistic model for the reader to tinker with
• Opens with the motivation for studying the topic, the "so what"

See also

• Explanation science