The document discusses techniques for generating and exploring bad ideas, including: 1) Thinking of silly or impractical ideas and analyzing what makes them bad to better understand design constraints. 2) "Critical transitions" involve identifying boundary cases between categories to define concepts more precisely. 3) Externalizing ideas through drawings, models, or other representations helps clarify, transform, and communicate thinking. 4) Considering multiple classifications of ideas can help identify gaps, trends, and abstract concepts in a literature search. 5) Personality prosthetics are tools that help researchers with their strengths and weaknesses to achieve goals.