The Rise of Fringe Sciences

In an era where we’re constantly thinking forward and working towards the “next big thing,” we’ve even coined a name for such scientific thinking: “fringe science.” Fringe science is a broad term for a variety of theoretical fields including cybernetics, portals and teleportation. Fringe science may sound like trivial, childish conjectures compared to the comparatively urgent theories in the more applicable, mainstream sciences such as medicine or engineering, but there is a serious debate arising regarding the financial investments that are pursuing these fringe sciences. People immediately deem fringe scientists to be mere charlatans wasting their grants away, but is that really true?

The common perception that comes with the mention of “fringe science” is some type of unethical experiment involving the creation of a Darth Vader or an Iron Man-like suit by a group of mad scientists. “Fringe science” has even received the nicknames of “junk science” or “voodoo science” for such reasons. Though fringe science includes the extremest of experiments, the term is quite relative especially with respect to time. Just a few decades ago, the theory of evolution and the Big Bang Theory were both considered studies belonging to this very maligned group of fringe science. Some of the most convoluted of concepts we, including professional scientists, deem as fringe science today may eventually become common knowledge for ordinary citizens in the future. Fringe science cannot be simply dismissed due to the more ambitious goals as so many of the concepts previously classified as “fringe science” have moved up into the more mainstream sciences.

Fringe science, just by its name, may imply a sole influence on the mainstream scientific concepts, but it has had a great deal of influence on other aspects of our lives as well. One major component of the collective influence of fringe science includes novels inspired by fringe science concepts. Some of the most renowned writers of science fiction such as Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov have taken inspiration from fringe science and have spread this inspiration to their readers through their respective works. Even movies and television shows have had a considerable impact on the creativity of our minds. According to Forbes, Martin Cooper, the director of Motorola and credited inventor of the first cell phone, credits the notion of communication devices in Star Trek to have inspired his quest to develop the first cell phone. The introduction and inclusion of unknown devices with useful abilities on the big screen or in writing inspires aspiring inventors to at least the question of the feasibility of their creation.

Despite popular conception of the meaning of “fringe science,” fringe science is a legitimate field, not a “junk science.” Fringe science is more of a movement towards the advancement of discovery of novel technologies. If anything, fringe science provides real inspiration, not unrealistic hopes. They should no longer be dismissed simply because of the most extremist of aspirations in the entire world of fringe science. Long ago, the idea of heliocentrism was a tabooed, heretic theory, but now we treat it as common knowledge. We can’t say for sure, but we can never count out even those goals that “fringe science” coerces us to believe in. Realistic or not, if we are to make the next medicinal advancements or the next technological devices, we’ll need the creative force evident in pursuers of “fringe science” to achieve them.