SELECT a Target of interest
  NAME it Target1

  PUT ASIDE what you know of the Target1
    IGNORE its normal usage;
    IGNORE its role in society

  IMAGINE Target1 as an artwork
    CREATE a title for it;
    THINK about the artist who made it
    PUT AWAY the artwork

  IMAGINE Target1 as an element of a religion
    SPECULATE about the style of the religion;
    IMAGINE a ritual Target1 is included in
    PUT AWAY the religion

  HALF-CLOSE your eyes
    RE-OBSERVE Target1
    RESIST certainty of its meaning;
    LET it change with possibilities
RETURN.

COMMENT: How to modify Blurrifier

Blurrifier is a composition of four smaller functions – this makes it easy to modify. You can start by generalizing the specified aspects of the code:

  • .Select_target
  • .ignore_given_meaning,
  • .assign_[target]_as_artwork,
  • .assign_[target]_as_religion and
  • .postpone_return_to_ordinary.

You can then either modify a part or add new one, asking “What would make this code more interesting to me?” and “What is currently the most worthwhile part to me?”

I’m personally fond of the religion part. I also like the way this code alienates me from ordinary meanings. At the moment I’m writing this, I feel that a modification to the artwork part is most likely to enhance this code for me. Therefore, I develop a version where I replace the artwork with “scientific tool” or “alien artefact”.

IMAGINE Target1 as an alien artefact

Next, I just tweak the remaining part of the code fragment so that it supports the idea of an alien artefact. Obviously, the title is now irrelevant – but the author could still be useful. I experiment with various options in my mind, and finally end up this formulation:

IMAGINE Target1 as an alien artefact
   	THINK about the alien species who have created it
   	SPECULATE about the function of the artefact
   	TRY to use it; IF it does not work, why?
PUT AWAY the alien artefact

My last step is simply to explore the code with this modification.