Re:Ask HN: How to blog things I've learnt in graduate school?
by sjg007 on Wednesday May 30, 2018 @06:28PM
(#17192452)
ELI5 with simple examples. Something like that. If you can't ELI5 the material then pick a lowest level higher than that that you can. The best scientists can explain their work and why it is important to a wide range of audiences. So the key is to give the context and why it's important and then how what you've learnt applies.
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Re:Ask HN: How to blog things I've learnt in graduate school?
by web007 on Wednesday May 30, 2018 @06:54PM
(#17192609)
VERY complex systems and concepts can be explained to anyone via analogies to things they already understand. Bang-bang logic is easy to explain and understand. PID is hard, but you can equate it to something like balancing on one foot and it gets easier. Break SCADA down into digestible chunks and it's not impossible to explain it to your 90-year-old grandmother.
This applies to your understanding of whatever you're teaching. If you can't ELI5 then you probably don't know enough about whatever concept you're trying to explain - that's your cue to keep learning until you can.
Caveat: For a blog or industry audience, you don't have to "dumb down" your answers if you're using technical jargon or even equations and the like. Being able to explain something in simple terms doesn't preclude talking about minutiae or nerdy technical details.
Re:Ask HN: How to blog things I've learnt in graduate school?
by mswen on Wednesday May 30, 2018 @06:51PM
(#17192586)
For technical topics I often envision a smart college sophomore who might be considering a major in which your topic resides. With this I can assume a pretty decent general education but little or no domain knowledge.
Assuming a smart college sophomore means that they have ability to follow pretty detailed or involved reasoning but they need the groundwork of concepts and terminology explained.