this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2026
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Explain Like I'm Five
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At the time of this comment, there are 3 answers like this in the thread with only 2 actual attempts at the question.
I think we need to popularize an "askfiction" community with a rule about Watsonian vs Doylist answers. IMO the Doylist answers are mostly flippant and unhelpful.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WatsonianVersusDoylist
Yes it's fiction, but OP is asking for an answer within that framework, if such an answer exists
People enjoy logical consistency, and shutting down a kids question with "it's fake, don't think about it" is a lame way to respond to questions when you could take the opportunity to expand their understanding of the world. It's also helpful to develop counterfactual reasoning (how would things change if X happened) and fiction allows someone to explore concepts in different ways.
Regardless, ELI5 is "explain in a way that even a 5 year old would understand", not "what would you say if a 5 year old asked the question"