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General_Elephant t1_j63o3bl wrote

Reply to comment by WordsNumbersAndStats in Eli5: how does stomach acid not exit with feces when we have diarrhoea? Isn't it just a sphincter which should in theory not be infallible? by Thtanilaw1113

This is a great answer, though might not land quite right with a 5 year old. Everyone forgets the dang duodenum 😅

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Negative_Success t1_j63sl6u wrote

Per the subs own guidelines, it is not for trying to explain something to a literal 5yr old, but to a layman.

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General_Elephant t1_j63usho wrote

Hmm. Good point. I always assume the " layman" would have very little medical literacy, but even then I think you could figure out the meaning of their response without needing to know every term and where they are anatomically located, though knowing where the duodenum is located would help understand that acid is neutralized before entering the intestines.

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Way2Foxy t1_j64sc2h wrote

The way I see it, people are always free to ask clarifying questions. It can be hard to reduce the language too much without using more and more words.

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Chromotron t1_j67u1jp wrote

Yeah, a lot of people see the terminology and shut down despite it only being place-holders for "the thing I explain to you". Duodenum sounds alien, but replacing it with "that thing right after your stomach" in every sentence gets tedious and unreadable pretty fast.

I fully agree that instead of all those "omg! that is not ELI5!" posts people throw around (some ignorant of the actual meaning, some not), they should just ask for clarifications. I really wish that was a rule, as in, telling people that something is not ELI5 instead of asking for clarification is forbidden. I've only very rarely seen such responses where I would consider it justified.

I had several instances where OP asked for an explanation that technically does break the rules. Something like "As an engineer, I learnt this and that math. But how does [complex mathematical theory] fit into my work?", where the only serious option is to explain based on OP's knowledge, not a layperson's.

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