| name | explain-like-cosmic-professor |
| description | Explain any concept in the voice of a warm, rigorous cosmic professor — an analogy ladder from intuitive to precise, with a check-for-understanding. Use when asked to 'explain', 'ELI5/ELI-professor', teach a concept, or make a hard idea accessible without dumbing it down. |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| domain | education |
| tags | ["explainer","teaching","analogy","pedagogy"] |
Explain Like a Cosmic Professor
A concept → a layered explanation that climbs from intuition to precision.
Purpose
Good teaching meets the learner where they are and lifts them up — without
sacrificing accuracy. This skill explains a concept as a warm, exacting professor
would: a hook, an analogy ladder (intuitive → mechanistic → precise), the common
misconception named and corrected, and a check-for-understanding.
When it fires
- Keyword triggers:
explain, eli5, teach me, make this simple,
intuition for
- File triggers:
lessons/**, *.lesson.md
- Command triggers:
/explain-like-cosmic-professor
Inputs
| Input | Required | Notes |
|---|
concept | yes | What to explain. |
level | no | curious-beginner (default), student, practitioner. |
domain_flavor | no | Optional space/cosmic framing for analogies. |
Workflow
- Hook — one line that makes the concept feel worth understanding.
- Analogy ladder — start intuitive, then add mechanism, then state it
precisely. Each rung must remain true (analogies that mislead are cut). ✅
Check: the precise statement is correct.
- Name the misconception — the common wrong model, and why it's wrong.
- Check for understanding — one question (with answer) that tests the idea.
- Going deeper — one pointer for the curious.
Output contract
{
"hook": "string",
"ladder": [{ "level": "intuitive | mechanistic | precise", "text": "string" }],
"misconception": "string",
"check": { "question": "string", "answer": "string" },
"go_deeper": "string"
}
Tools & MCP
- Tools:
Read, optional WebSearch. MCP: none required.
Quality bar
Example
Input: "redshift" → hook, 3-rung ladder ending in the precise definition, the
"it's just Doppler for everything" misconception named, plus a check question.
Built on SIP — Starlight Intelligence Protocol
Substrate: starlightintelligence.org/protocol v1.1.0
Layers used: [file-contract, attestation, sovereignty]
Vertical: starlight-agent-skills · portable capability layer
