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== Definition ==
The term "explorable explanation" was first used in passing by [[Peter Brusilovsky]] in a 1994 paper<ref>{{Citation|last=Brusilovsky|first=Peter|title=Explanatory visualization in an educational programming environment: Connecting examples with general knowledge|date=1994|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58648-2_38|work=Lecture Notes in Computer Science|pages=202–212|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|isbn=9783540586487|access-date=2019-03-25}}</ref>, but did not enter into common use until 2011, when [[Bret Victor]] published an eponymous essay<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://worrydream.com/ExplorableExplanations/|title=Explorable Explanations|website=worrydream.com|access-date=2019-01-18}}</ref> (the essay included an explorable explanation of a [[digital filter]])
Some of the ideas Victor espoused in the essay occurred to him while during work with [[Al Gore]] on the app version of the 2009 book [[Our Choice]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1665397/after-trying-to-kill-math-an-ex-apple-designer-aims-to-kill-reading|title=After Trying To “Kill Math,” An Ex-Apple Designer Aims To Kill Reading|last=Pavlus|first=John|date=2011-11-09|website=Fast Company|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-18}}</ref>. He had proposed that the app should contain interactive models, but this idea was rejected on the basis that all numerical values proposed regarding climate change needed to have a citation, and the interactive models would generate un-cited numbers<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/#media-writing|title=What can a technologist do about climate change? A personal view.|website=worrydream.com|access-date=2019-05-15}}</ref>.
The term has since also been characterized as being about learning through play<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://explorabl.es/|title=Explorable Explanations|website=explorabl.es|access-date=2019-04-05}}</ref> and the need for a [[cartography]] for representing and exploring knowledge<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://michaelkarpeles.com/curations/life-lessons|title=michaelkarpeles.com {{!}} Life lessons|website=michaelkarpeles.com|access-date=2019-04-05}}</ref>. The related term "active essays" was used by [[Alan Kay]] to refer to text-based explorable explanations<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.playfulinvention.com/emergence/active-essay.html|title=Active Essays|website=www.playfulinvention.com|access-date=2019-04-02}}</ref>, and a major goal of [[Squeak]] (the precursor to [[Scratch (programming language)|Scratch]]) was to allow for the creation of them<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/3307|title=Active Essays|website=wiki.squeak.org|access-date=2019-04-02}}</ref>. ▼
▲The term has since also been characterized as being about learning through play<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://explorabl.es/|title=Explorable Explanations|website=explorabl.es
A few [[Video game|video games]] may be considered explorable explanations. For example, [[Sim City]] utilizes a complex city simulation that is intended<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archinect.com/features/article/112824468/the-theory-of-everything-in-sandbox-city-will-wright-s-keynote-at-acadia-2014|title=The theory of everything in sandbox city: Will Wright's keynote at ACADIA 2014|website=Archinect|language=en|access-date=2019-03-03}}</ref> to present issues that appear in real-world [[urban planning]]. Many other games in the [[Simulation video game|simulation]] genre have a similar intention, although with many it is not a necessity that the simulation be scientifically accurate. In the [[Puzzle video game|puzzle]] genre, games such as [[Miegakure]] and [[Incredipede]] also involve interacting with systems with the intention of learning. Video games may not involve explanatory text or narration.
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