Fringe theory
A fringe theory is an idea or a collection of ideas that departs significantly from the prevailing or mainstream view in its particular field of study. Examples include ideas that purport to be scientific theories but have little or no scientific support, conspiracy theories, unproven esoteric claims about medicine, pseudohistory and so forth. Some fringe theories may in a stricter sense be hypotheses, conjectures, or speculations.[1]
Thus fringe theories are not broadly accepted by the prevailing orthodox scholarship in the field. They tend to involve original ideas, the validity of which is still uncertain. Consequently they may be controversial and even contentious. They may also represent the possible future breakthroughs, or they could fade into obscurity.
Status of a theory can change. For example, continental drift has moved from being a contested, fringe theory in geology, to becoming very widely accepted as plate tectonics within the scientific community.[2]
There is a spectrum from pseudoscientific to fringe theories to protoscience to alternative theoretical formulations to orthodox science. However, the demarcations between these are not always clear.
| Systematized as scientific definition | ||||
| Treated with scientific method | ||||
| Tries to be science or just looks like science | ||||
| Superstitions | Pseudoscience | Fringe science | Protoscience | (Mainstream) science |
The demarcations are often difficult to place, especially when there are several conceptual theories or candidate solutions that are competing for acceptance. Very often these theories are incomplete working models, so it can be difficult to test them. Thus the validity of these can be uncertain: they cannot be proven or disproven. Acceptance of such theories is a matter of personal belief, hence contention. Examples of physics theories that meet the definition of fringe, are of uncertain validity, yet are taken seriously by many in their fields are: Grand unification theorys, Theory of everything, and M-theory.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Shermer, Michael (1997). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805070893.
- ^ Bell, David, 2005, Science, Technology and Culture, Open University Press, p. 134, ISBN 978-0335213269
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