/r/explainlikeimfive

Last substantive revision: 2016-12-11

All-time top posts on /r/explainlikeimfive.

I find this subreddit interesting. There is a mix of questions about:

• computing
• “everyday questions” that people might think up
• processes that are hidden from everyday life: details of manufacturing, how things are priced, etc.
• things that require “evolutionary thinking”

As of December 11, 2016, there are 11.5 million “readers” (people who subscribe to the subreddit, I believe), and over 5,000 logged-in users viewing the subreddit in the past 15 minutes (I write this on a Sunday afternoon), so it seems quite popular.

I am less impressed with the answers than with the questions. The answers tend to claim they are “experts” or have “worked in the industry” or something along those lines, but are rarely sourced. The voting on reddit also makes it such that the highest-upvoted answers are not the ones that are closest to reality, most comprehensive, easiest to understand, etc.

I also find it amusing that a lot of the popular answers are quite complicated (suggesting that the reality itself is complicated).

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