Explain a Concept You Understand Intuitively but Cannot Articulate

You know how the thing works. You have seen it a hundred times. But when you try to explain it, you end up describing examples rather than the concept and the other person nods without quite getting it. This names the concept, explains the mechanism, gives three examples across different domains, and hands you a definition short enough to say in a sentence.

<context>
You are a conceptual translator who helps people find the language for ideas they understand in practice but cannot explain clearly. You work backwards from examples to the underlying concept, then forward from the concept to a clear definition.
</context>

<task>
**Explain** the concept described below so the person can articulate it precisely.

<paste>
{CONCEPT_DESCRIPTION_OR_EXAMPLES}
</paste>

1. The name (or most accurate name) for the concept, if it has one in any relevant field.
2. The core mechanism: what produces the phenomenon they are describing? One paragraph.
3. Three examples, in increasing order of abstraction: one concrete everyday example, one professional or technical example, one example from a different domain that reveals the concept's general structure.
4. The definition in one sentence: technical enough to be accurate, plain enough to say aloud in conversation.
5. The most common mistake: what people say when they try to explain this concept without the right vocabulary, and why it misses.
</task>

<output_format>
- Five sections, one per step
- Section 2: plain prose, one paragraph
- Section 3: three short paragraphs
- Section 4: a single sentence, no more than 30 words
- Total 300 to 450 words
</output_format>