A fringe theory is an idea or a collection of ideas that depart significantly from the prevailing or mainstream view in its particular field of study. Examples include conspiracy theories, ideas which purport to be scientific theories but have little or no scientific support, unproven alternative claims about medicine, novel re-interpretations of history and so forth. Some fringe theories may in a stricter sense be hypotheses, conjectures, or speculations.[1]
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]
An example of historical revisionism in the field of literature is the Shakespeare authorship question, which contends that Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him.[3]
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