Coaching practices for How to Evaluate Explanations
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Evaluate Explanations, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- The grimmest explanation is always the first one I reach for, and I just accept it without ever asking if something else might have caused this
- I’ve got two stories about why this happened and I keep flip-flopping
- I’ve written out my own best explanation of this, and now I want to hold it up against how a real expert explains the same thing
- Every time my explanation falls apart, I quietly tell myself "well, I never really thought I knew that anyway"
- It all feels clear and connected in my head, but the second I try to actually write the explanation out the whole thing falls apart and I see how many steps I was just hand-waving over.
Practices that may help
- Generate alternative, more accurate explanations
For any setback, produce at least three competing explanations before settling on one.
Learned Optimism: Seligman’s ABCDE Method - Count the assumptions each explanation requires
When two explanations fit the facts, count how many unverified assumptions each one rests on.
Occam’s Razor: Prefer the Simpler Explanation - Expert-explanation comparison
After explaining a concept yourself, compare your explanation to an expert’s and locate the differences.
Illusion of Explanatory Depth: You Know Less Than You Think - Pre-explanation rating with commitment
Rate your understanding before attempting to explain — not after — and record the number.
Illusion of Explanatory Depth: You Know Less Than You Think - Write the explanation, do not just think it
Put the "why" in writing so vague mental hand-waving cannot pass as understanding.
Elaborative Interrogation: Ask "Why Is This True?" - Systematic alternatives: generate three more explanations before deciding
Force yourself to generate at least three alternative explanations or interpretations before committing to the first plausible one.
Lateral Thinking, Made Practical - Diagnose before elaborating
Check the common, simple explanation first before searching for rare or complex ones.
Occam’s Razor: Prefer the Simpler Explanation - Articulation prompts
Ask learners to explain their reasoning before, during, and after a task to surface and strengthen tacit knowledge.
Cognitive Apprenticeship: Learning by Making Thinking Visible - Self-explain at every step
Pause after each idea and ask: "Why does this follow from the last point?"
The Generation Effect: Why Making It Yourself Makes It Stick - Learn the three attribution dimensions
Diagnose every failure explanation as internal/external, stable/unstable, and global/specific — then ask which dimension you can shift.
Attributional Retraining, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Common Explanation First
Check the common, simple explanation first before searching for rare or complex ones.
Diagnose before elaborating
- Explanation In Writing
Put the "why" in writing so vague mental hand-waving cannot pass as understanding.
Write the explanation, do not just think it
- Alternative Explanations Technique
For any setback, produce at least three competing explanations before settling on one.
Generate alternative, more accurate explanations
- How To Improve Explanations
Put the "why" in writing so vague mental hand-waving cannot pass as understanding.
- Mechanistic Explanation Practice
When you think you understand something, try to explain how it works step-by-step — not just what it does.
Explain the mechanism, not the function
- Self Explanation
Put the "why" in writing so vague mental hand-waving cannot pass as understanding.
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