diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index c500fb4398..42ce0a5939 100644
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -57,10 +57,14 @@ latest HEAD commit of `maint` or `master` based on the following cases:
 
 This also means that `next` or `seen` are inappropriate starting points
 for your work, if you want your work to have a realistic chance of
-graduating to `master`.  They are simply not designed to provide a
-stable base for new work, because they are (by design) frequently
-re-integrated with incoming patches on the mailing list and force-pushed
-to replace previous versions of these branches.
+graduating to `master`.  They are simply not designed to be used as a
+base for new work; they are only there to make sure that topics in
+flight work well together. This is why both `next` and `seen` are
+frequently re-integrated with incoming patches on the mailing list and
+force-pushed to replace previous versions of themselves. A topic that is
+literally built on top of `next` cannot be merged to `master` without
+dragging in all the other topics in `next`, some of which may not be
+ready.
 
 For example, if you are making tree-wide changes, while somebody else is
 also making their own tree-wide changes, your work may have severe