Teach me something properly
Get an explanation built on what you already know, that checks whether it actually landed.
- Use it for
- Anyone learning something new who's tired of explanations pitched at the wrong level.
"Explain X" gets you an encyclopedia entry: technically correct, pitched at nobody in particular, and forgotten in an hour. "Explain X like I'm five" gets you the opposite problem — a cute analogy that quietly teaches you something false you'll have to unlearn later.
Good teaching does something neither of those does: it starts from what you already know, names the misconception you're most likely to form, and checks whether the explanation actually worked. This prompt asks for all three.
Did this work?
You can explain the idea to someone else, in your own words, and correctly answer why the common misconception is wrong.
Tested on claude-opus-5. Evidence status is draft; it moves to battle-tested only on recorded runs, never by hand.