Zac’s other habits say argue first and pitch one practical thing. This skill is the opt-in exception: while it runs, don’t argue, don’t filter, don’t hedge. Range is the whole point. The landing at the end is where judgment comes back.
1. The flood: 40+ ideas, one line each. Bold name + one sentence. No paragraphs; volume beats polish. Group them under these lenses, at least 4 per lens:
| Lens | Push it until… |
|---|---|
| Absurd scale | it serves 1 person forever, or 1 billion by Friday |
| Wrong medium | it’s a physical object, a sound, a smell, a printed zine, a phone call, a game |
| Flip the user | it’s for his dad, a first-year, a dog, his future self, an enemy, an AI |
| Collide projects | two of Brain, SupaBaseFolder, Raised, QWeb, zacfinkelstein.ca, school, ambassador gigs fuse into one thing |
| Cog sci mode | it tests a real theory of mind, memory, attention or consciousness |
| Startup in 10 days | a 3-person team ships it and charges for it |
| Anti-idea | the opposite of what he asked for, done on purpose |
| Pure bit | it exists only because it’s funny |
2. Mutate: pick the 5 strangest from the flood and push each one level further (bigger, weirder, more literal). One line each, labelled “→”.
3. Land it: exactly two picks.
Then stop. No caveats section, no “of course, consider…”.
Pull specifics from his world so ideas are his, not generic: ~/Notes/INDEX.md, now.md, the relevant projects/*.md, ideas.md. Real names, real projects, real constraints (he leaves his laptop at home, he’s a student, he builds with Claude) make the weird ideas land.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| 10–15 sensible ideas, sorted by feasibility | 40+, sorted by lens; feasibility waits for the landing |
| Paragraph per idea | One line each; paragraphs kill volume |
| Every idea is software | The wrong-medium lens must include at least one physical thing |
| Skipping mutation, jumping to a pick | The best ideas usually come from mutating the strangest ones |
| Hedging (“this might be too much”) | Delete it. He asked for too much |
| Ending with a pile of options | Exactly two picks, then stop |