[8bitsrule]

"Step 1: Teach it to a child..."

Key. Teaching is a learning process for both teacher (who must condense and reduce to essentials, and so integrate) and student.

If the child is old enough to ask good questions (and is encouraged to), so much the better. The feedback is valuable, and the teacher can continue to reduce/integrate at a somewhat higher level.

[MaxBarraclough]

I'm always surprised how rarely anyone makes the obvious point here, and sure enough in this thread it looks like no-one has: no, you can't explain complex things to a two year old. Not without dumbing it down to the point that you've discarded everything of value.

Is this some odd kind of hyperbole about teaching techniques? I don't see that it's helpful.

If I'm struggling with it, the odds of a toddler being able to comprehend it are slim to none.

The kernel trick? Quantum computing? Even good old eigenvectors? (Or, heaven forbid, genuinely advanced mathematics?)

The best professors in the world couldn't convey these things to a 2 year old, and not for lack of understanding.