Fringe science

Fringe science is an inquiry in an established field of study which departs significantly from mainstream theories in that field and is considered to be questionable by the mainstream.

Fringe science may be either a questionable application of a scientific approach to a field of study or an approach whose status as scientific is widely questioned.

For mainstream scientists, attributes of fringe science include being highly speculative or even as actually refuted.[1] Fringe science theories are often advanced by persons who have no traditional academic science background, or by researchers outside the mainstream discipline.[2][3] The general public has difficulty distinguishing between science and its imitators,[4] and in some cases a "yearning to believe or a generalized suspicion of experts is a very potent incentive to accepting pseudoscientific claims".[5]

The term "fringe science" covers everything from novel hypotheses which can be tested by means of the scientific method to wild ad hoc hypotheses and mumbo jumbo. This has resulted in a tendency to dismiss all fringe science as the domain of pseudoscientists, hobbyists, and cranks.[6]

Other terms for questionable types of science are pathological science, voodoo science, and cargo cult science. The term junk science is used to criticize research seen as dubious or fraudulent, as opposed to "solid science".

A concept that was once accepted by the mainstream scientific community may become fringe science because of a later evaluation of previous research. For example, focal infection theory, which held that focal infections of the tonsils or teeth are a primary cause of systemic disease, was once considered to be medical fact. It has since been dismissed because of lack of evidence.

Some theories that were once rejected as fringe science, but were eventually accepted as mainstream science, are:

Description

The term "fringe science" denotes unorthodox scientific theories and models. Persons who create fringe science may have employed the scientific method in their work, but their results are not accepted by the mainstream scientific community. Fringe science may be advocated by a scientist who has some recognition within the larger scientific community, but this is not always the case. Usually the evidence provided by fringe science is accepted only by a minority and is rejected by most experts.

The boundary between fringe science and pseudoscience is disputed. The connotation of "fringe science" is that the enterprise is rational but is unlikely to produce good results for a variety of reasons, including incomplete or contradictory evidence.[13]

The term may be considered pejorative. For example, Lyell D. Henry Jr. wrote that, "fringe science [is] a term also suggesting kookiness."[14] This characterization is perhaps inspired by the eccentric behavior of many researchers of the kind known colloquially (and with considerable historical precedent) as mad scientists.[15]

Although most fringe science is rejected, the scientific community has come to accept some portions of it.[16] One example of such is plate tectonics, an idea which had its origin in the fringe science of continental drift and was rejected for decades.[17]

The confusion between science and pseudoscience, between honest scientific error and genuine scientific discovery, is not new, and it is a permanent feature of the scientific landscape .... Acceptance of new science can come slowly.[18]

Examples

Historical

Some historical ideas that are considered to have been refuted by mainstream science are:

Contemporary

Relatively recent fringe sciences include:

Responding to fringe science

Michael W. Friedlander has suggested some guidelines for responding to fringe science, which, he argues, is a more difficult problem[34] than scientific misconduct. His suggested methods include impeccable accuracy, checking cited sources, not overstating orthodox science, thorough understanding of the Wegener continental drift example, examples of orthodox science investigating radical proposals, and prepared examples of errors from fringe scientists.[35]

Friedlander suggests that fringe science is necessary so that mainstream science will not atrophy. Scientists must evaluate the plausibility of each new fringe claim, and certain fringe discoveries "will later graduate into the ranks of accepted" — while others "will never receive confirmation".[4]

Margaret Wertheim profiled many "outsider scientists" in her book Physics on the Fringe, who receive little or no attention from professional scientists. She describes all of them as trying to make sense of the world using the scientific method, but in the face of not being able to understand the complex theories of modern science. She also finds it fair that credentialed scientists do not bother spending a lot of time learning about and explaining problems with the fringe theories of uncredentialed scientists, since the authors of those theories have not taken the time to understand the mainstream theories they aim to disprove.[36]

Controversies

Towards the end of the 20th century, some critics (such as Answers in Genesis) began to cite fringe science theories with limited support. Often their goal was to classify as controversial entire fields of scientific inquiry (notably paleoanthropology, human sexuality, evolution, geology, and paleontology) that contradict literal or fundamentalist interpretation of various sacred texts.

Critics argue that such controversies open a window of plausibility for divine intervention and intelligent design.[37][38][39]

As Donald E. Simanek asserts, "Too often speculative and tentative hypotheses of cutting edge science are treated as if they were scientific truths, and so accepted by a public eager for answers." But the public is ignorant of the fact that "As science progresses from ignorance to understanding it must pass through a transitional phase of confusion and uncertainty."[40]

The media also play a role in propagating the belief that certain fields of science are controversial. In their 2003 paper "Optimising Public Understanding of Science and Technology in Europe: A Comparative Perspective", Jan Nolin et al. write that "From a media perspective it is evident that controversial science sells, not only because of its dramatic value, but also since it is often connected to high-stake societal issues."[41]

See also

Books

References

  1. Dutch, Steven I (January 1982). "Notes on the nature of fringe science". J Geol Ed. 30 (1): 6–13. ISSN 0022-1368. OCLC 427103550. ERIC EJ260409.
  2. Friedlander, Michael W. At the Fringes of Science. OCLC 42309381.p. 58
  3. Isaac Asimov (1980). Left Hand of the Electron. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-440-94717-2.
  4. 1 2 Friedlander, p. 173.
  5. Friedlander, p. 176.
  6. David Bell (December 1999). "Secret science". Science and Public Policy. 26 (6): 450. doi:10.1093/spp/26.6.450.
  7. Bell, David, 2005, Science, Technology and Culture, Open University Press, p. 134, ISBN 978-0-335-21326-9
  8. Oreskes, Naomi (2003), Plate tectonics: an insider's history of the modern theory of the Earth p. 72
  9. Conklin, Wendy (2005) Mysteries in History: Ancient History p. 39
  10. Hunt, Patrick (2007) Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History
  11. JDobrzycki J Editor (1973) The reception of Copernicus' heliocentric theory p. 311
  12. Lemonick, Michael D. (2003) Echo of the Big Bang Princeton University Press p. 7
  13. Friedlander, p. 183.
  14. Henry Lyell D. (1981). "Unorthodox science as a popular activity". J Am Culture. 4 (2): 1–22. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.1981.0402_1.x.
  15. Runco, Mark A; Pritzker, Steven R (1999). Encyclopedia of Creativity. i–z. p. 10.
  16. Friedlander, p. 172.
  17. Friedlander, p. 5.
  18. Friedlander, p. 161.
  19. "Two Scientists Jailed; Pair Sentenced in Maine in Sale of 'Accumulators'". The New York Times. 12 March 1957. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  20. May, Andrew (9 September 2014). "The Dangerous Truth about Orgone". Mysterious Universe. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  21. Williams, William F. (2000). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Facts on File. pp. 36, 55, 68, 248–249, 298–299. ISBN 081603351X.
  22. Gordin, Michael D. (2012). The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe. University of Chicago Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 022610172X.
  23. Klee, Gerald D. (2005). "THE RESURRECTION OF WILHELM REICH AND ORGONE THERAPY". The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. 4 (1).
  24. Simon, Matt (26 November 2014). "Fantastically Wrong: Why Is the Sky Blue? It's Packed With Sexy Energy, of Course". Wired. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  25. "Orgone Energy". Zephyr Technology. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  26. Pallasch, TJ (March 2000). "The focal infection theory: appraisal and reappraisal.". Journal of the California Dental Association. 28 (3): 194–200. PMID 11326533.
  27. Whitley, David S. (2009) Cave paintings and the human spirit p. 98
  28. Waters, Michael (25 March 2011). "The Buttermilk Creek Complex and the Origins of Clovis at the Debra L. Friedkin Site, Texas". Science. 331 (6024): 1599–1603. Bibcode:2011Sci...331.1599W. doi:10.1126/science.1201855. PMID 21436451.
  29. Wilford, John (2011-03-24). "Arrowheads Found in Texas Dial Back Arrival of Humans in America". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  30. "The quest for immortality: Want to live 500 years? One scientist says it may be possible one day". CBS News. 2005-12-28.
  31. Warner, H.; Anderson, J.; Austad, S.; Bergamini, E.; Bredesen, D.; Butler, R.; Carnes, B. A.; Clark, B. F. C.; Cristofalo, V.; Faulkner, J.; Guarente, L.; Harrison, D. E.; Kirkwood, T.; Lithgow, G.; Martin, G.; Masoro, E.; Melov, S.; Miller, R. A.; Olshansky, S. J.; Partridge, L.; Pereira-Smith, O.; Perls, T.; Richardson, A.; Smith, J.; Von Zglinicki, T.; Wang, E.; Wei, J. Y.; Williams, T. F. (Nov 2005). "Science fact and the SENS agenda. What can we reasonably expect from ageing research?". EMBO Reports. 6 (11): 1006–1008. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400555. ISSN 1469-221X. PMC 1371037Freely accessible. PMID 16264422.
  32. Pontin, Jason (2006-07-11). "Is defeating aging only a dream?". Technology Review. (includes June 9, 2006 critiques and rebuttals)
  33. "A report from the American Physical Society spring meeting – 1–2 May 1989 Baltimore, MD Special session on cold fusion". Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  34. Friedlander, p. 174.
  35. Friedlander, p. 178–9.
  36. http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510036/143369581/KERA_143369581.mp3
  37. "The dangers of creationism in education". Council of Europe. 2008-03-31.
  38. "The Wedge" (PDF). Discovery Institute. 1999.
  39. "Edwards v. Aguillard".: Amicus curiae brief of 72 Nobel laureates, 17 state academies of science, and 7 other scientific organizations in support of appellees in 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
  40. Simanek, Donald. "Cutting edge science". Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  41. Nolin, Jan; et al. "Optimising public understanding of science: A comparative perspective" (PDF). p. 632. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-12.

Bibliography

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