what if X were normal/how would society adapt to X
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reify/embody [concept], make it tangible and/or give it agency
(this one is as old as the gods)
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The quest to exhaust all possible spiders:
ctrlcreep.tumblr.com/post/140700483
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kaleidoscopic writing: take [collection of shiny things], let it tumble about and assume many different configurations, describe them all.
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process/structure mismatch:
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Replying to @allgebrah
it is entertaining to force one process into the other's structures: mushroom houses, crystallizing cities, mycelium crystals.
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[tale of human ambition]
[atrocious pun, but taken seriously]
[neat invention, thinly disguised as story]
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X but taking place in the platonic plane
biologize/mechanize something that wasn't yet (an instance of process/structure mismatch)
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[fantasy concept] but it has physics
[the end game of X, and how you get there]
[nonsensical idea seed, germinated]
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resolving a dichotomy in unexpected ways: "what if it's both" / "what if they're the same"
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Flat Hollow Earth Theory: The world is a flat ring
Hollow Flat Earth Theory: A very large cave spans the disk but is only about 10m high
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style transfer: X but with another aesthetic
closely related: what if X had the appearance of Y
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An electricity grid but for light: Light plants where small suns illuminate entire cities, mirror houses for local distribution, an infrared grid for cooking, orbital mirrors and power lines that glow at night
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perception shift: the same thing in a new light or other things that trigger a reparse; puns and garden path concepts
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noun phrases give you the verb "as", which roughly means "X can be understood in terms of Y", making it more precise than "is"
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