AI for Study & Research · Module 1 · Asking questions that teach you
Explanations at your level: three dials
6 min read · lesson 2 of 5
The same model can explain like a teacher, a friend, or an examiner. You choose with one sentence. When an explanation sails over your head, do not give up — turn a dial and ask again.
The three dials
- Simplicity — 'explain like I am 12' or 'assume I know nothing about this field'.
- Length — 'in three sentences' or 'step by step with an example each'.
- Anchor — 'use a cricket analogy' or 'compare it to how UPI works'.
Anchoring to something you already understand is the strongest dial. New ideas stick to old ones; they rarely stick to a blank page.
You just explained recursion, but I am lost.
Explain it again: like I am 12, in at most 5 sentences,
using the idea of Russian nesting dolls.
Then give me one tiny example I can trace by hand.When you finally get it, say what clicked: 'the doll analogy worked — now explain it again without the analogy'. That locks the real understanding in.
Practice
Take a concept you gave up on. Apply all three dials in one retry prompt and notice which one did the work.