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WHW: What, How, Why

Learn the logic, not just the answer.

A formula or a fact on its own is not an explanation. Type /whw before your question and you get the path to the answer: each step builds on something you already know, so you can follow the logic and rebuild it yourself.

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Claude skill, 2 KB
Also works with ChatGPT and Gemini

Copy instructions also works with other AI assistants, such as ChatGPT or Gemini. What it can do there may be limited by your plan and by the assistant.

Use it formaths and science "why" questionslearning a new field at workhelping with homeworkexplaining an idea to someone outside your field

What it does

Every time you use it, the skill:

Restates your question in everyday words

Builds a chain of 5 to 8 short steps, each resting on something you already know or can see

Shows the reason with a simple picture instead of quoting who proved it

Marks what people chose, what was discovered and what was measured

Says plainly where science does not know the answer yet

Ends with one question you can now answer, so you can check you understood

Not built for: Quick lookups and expert depth. Ask for a date and you get the date in one line. If you already know the basics, ask it to go more technical.

For anyone new to a subject

Homework at the kitchen table, a research topic, the first week in a new job, or plain curiosity.

Homework

Research

A new job

Just curious

See it in action

A real request and the answer the skill gives.

Your AI assistant · with WHW

/whw Why is the area of a circle πr²? What is π, and why is it 3.14?

The question, in plain words

What is the number π, where does it come from, and why does multiplying it by the radius twice give the space inside a circle?

The chain

Wrap a string once around a tin, then lay it across the top through the centre (the diameter). It goes across a little more than 3 times.
A bigger tin gives the same ratio, because every circle is a scaled-up copy of a smaller one. That fixed ratio is called π. The name is defined; its value is discovered.
You can trap its value: a hexagon inside the circle measures exactly 3 diameters around, a square outside measures 4. So π is between 3 and 4. More sides squeeze it to 3.14159…
So the distance around a circle is π × diameter, which is 2πr (r is the radius, centre to edge).
Cut a pizza into thin slices and lay them alternately point-up and point-down. You get an almost-rectangle.
Its height is one slice: r. Its long side is half the crust: half of 2πr, which is πr.
Area of a rectangle = long side × height = πr × r = πr². (The simple version: it becomes a true rectangle as the slices get thinner without limit.)

Why it has to be this way

π is in the area only because it is already in the distance around, and r appears twice because area grows in two directions at once.

Check your understanding

A pizza twice as wide as another: how many times more pizza do you get?

Answer: 4 times. The radius doubles, and r is used twice: 2 × 2 = 4.

Try asking

Once the skill is added, ask in your own words. Click a prompt to copy it.

Set it up in a minute

1

Get the skill

Download the .zip for Claude (no need to unzip it), or copy the instructions for another assistant.

2

Add it to your assistant

In Claude, upload the .zip in the Skills part of settings. For ChatGPT or Gemini, paste the instructions into a custom GPT, a Gem or your project instructions.

3

Ask for the task

Describe what you need. The assistant uses the skill when the task fits.

Get WHW, free

Type /whw before any question and get the path, not just the answer.

Copy instructions also works with other AI assistants, such as ChatGPT or Gemini. What it can do there may be limited by your plan and by the assistant.

Download for Claude

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These are the instructions for WHW: What, How, Why, a free skill from ivakor.com.
Use them as custom instructions (for example in a custom GPT, a Gemini Gem or project instructions), or paste them at the start of a chat.

# WHW: What, How, Why

Explain a topic to someone who has never studied it, so that they understand the path to the answer, not just the answer. A formula, a fact or a definition on its own is not an explanation. The reader should finish able to rebuild the reasoning themselves.

## When to use

Use this method when the user types `/whw`, either on its own before a question or in front of a topic. Without `/whw`, answer normally.

## The three parts

Every WHW answer moves through three parts. Use them as the shape of the answer, not as labels to fill.

1. **What**: what the thing is and what question we are really answering, in everyday words. Restate the question so a newcomer can see what is being asked.
2. **How**: the chain of steps that gets from what the reader already knows to the answer. This is the main part.
3. **Why**: why the chain holds, so the result feels necessary rather than memorised. Usually this is one idea that ties the chain together.

## How to build the chain

**Start from solid ground.** The first link must be something the reader already knows from everyday life, or can see or try for themselves. Do not start from a definition they would need to take on trust.

**No magic steps.** Every link must rest on one of these:

- something the reader already knows
- something that can be observed or measured, and you say how
- an earlier link in the chain

If a step needs a fact that has not been explained, the chain is broken. Either add the missing link or say plainly that you are asking the reader to accept it for now, and why that is reasonable.

**Keep it short first.** Give 5 to 8 numbered links. Each link is one or two sentences. The reader can ask to zoom into any link later.

**Show, don't cite.** If the reader can see why something is true with a simple picture or comparison, show that instead of naming who proved it. "A circle is longer than the hexagon drawn inside it and shorter than the square drawn around it, so π is between 3 and 4" teaches more than "Archimedes calculated it". Name a person only as a side note, after the reasoning.

**Plain words.** Assume a curious reader with no background in the subject. Explain any technical term the first time it appears, in the same sentence. Prefer a concrete picture (a string around a tin, a pizza cut into slices, light through a prism) over an abstract statement.

**Say what kind of fact each key step is.** Readers often confuse these, so make the difference visible where it matters:

- **defined**: people chose it (there are 360 degrees in a circle)
- **discovered**: it is true about the world whether or not anyone chose it (π is the same for every circle)
- **measured**: it comes from observation or instruments, with some uncertainty (the mass of Jupiter)

**Simple, but never false.** If a step simplifies, say so in a few words ("this is the simple version: in reality…"). Do not trade accuracy for neatness.

**Be honest about the edges.** If science does not fully know the answer, say where the known chain ends and what is still open. Never invent a link to make the chain look complete.

**Careful with absolutes.** Words like *every*, *never*, *no* and *always* are often slightly wrong. Use them only when they are strictly true.

## Shape of the answer

Use this structure:

**The question, in plain words**
One or two sentences that restate what is really being asked.

**The chain**
Numbered links, 5 to 8 of them, each building on the last.

**Why it has to be this way**
Two or three sentences that tie the chain together.

**Check your understanding**
One short prediction the reader can now make, or a question they can now answer, that they could not have answered before. Give the answer straight after it.

**Go deeper** (optional)
Only if one link hides a big idea worth its own chain. Name that link and say in a few words what is behind it. Do not add a generic "ask me about any link" line.

Do not add other sections. Keep the whole answer under about 400 words unless the user asks for more.

## When the question is a plain fact

If the question asks for a fact with no reasoning behind it (a date, a name, a number), give the fact and one sentence of context, and stop. Do not add material the user did not ask for, such as how we know it, unless they ask.

If the question is short but has a real why behind it, give the short answer first, then a chain of 2 to 4 links.

## When the user asks to zoom in

When the user names a link ("zoom into 3"), treat that link as a new WHW question with its own short chain. Keep the same plain level unless the user asks to go more technical.

## Final check

Before answering, check:

- [ ] The first link starts from something the reader already knows or can see
- [ ] Every link follows from earlier links, an observation or common knowledge: no magic steps
- [ ] Every technical term is explained where it first appears
- [ ] Defined, discovered and measured facts are not confused
- [ ] Any simplification is flagged
- [ ] Unknowns are stated, not papered over
- [ ] The prediction at the end really follows from the chain
- [ ] Where the reader could see the reason with a picture, you showed it instead of naming who proved it
- [ ] No *every*, *never* or *always* that is not strictly true
- [ ] Nothing the user did not ask for