Value of the Fringe

From the time you decided to burst forth from the womb you started on a course that would inevitably expose you to the fringe. Mommy and Daddy protected you from bad people, but your very being is quite different from them even though genetically you may carry some of their physical characteristics. Every person capable of thinking, growing, and experimenting needs the fringe to expose them to the tails of a normal distribution curve of thinking. In fact, by the time we are old enough to learn the ways of society, our native intelligence begins to riddle us, “What is normal?” Without the fringe to teach us, normal would be just a meaningless lump instead of a curve.

The tails of that Gaussian graph of normalcy lead us to believe that there is some sort of mathematical calculation that can tell us about the deviant behavior outside of centrist thinking. We see things from a different perspective when we think about technological advances. The people that become early adopters of new technology bring us to a gap in believability and then leap over into making us see the light.  We soon recognize them as paving the way for the masses to adopt, understand, and benefit from new things. By the time that the curve has reached its peak, these fringe thinkers have already moved on to invent something new. We owe technological advances in part to the fringe.

The fringe reminds us of the lessons learned once and then forgotten. They tend to give us a jolt into reality. In discussions about generational perspectives, the voice of the Millennial reminds earlier generations of the feelings of frustration when brilliant ideas were brushed aside and not given serious thought. Today’s technology allows us to revisit our past as we watch a new tribe of excited contributors pulling on the leash to be set free on their own course. The beauty of this floating fringe is that when the outside thinkers of today are replaced they will remember the days when they struggled to be heard and understood. Learning tolerance is taught by the fringe.

Theories that lie outside of the orbit of the current way of thinking tend to band groups of network contacts together in a peer review of ideas. Multiple honest evaluations on fringe matters give us a better look into the determining things to be factual. Outside of the physical realm where true and false are inescapable and mutually exclusive alternatives, most opinions become relevant because of their current situation. Even conspiracy theories and pseudoscience can add thought provoking knowledge by pushing the envelope beyond mainstream ideas. Even if something is proven to be untrue, not every failure to prove a theory is a failure. The ability to know which ideas are not just outside the realm of normalcy but also outside of the realm of possibility gives strength to more conventional thinking. The fringe gives us a measure of reality.

There is one thing that is universally true: Like the Force and duct tape there is a light side and a dark side of things, including the fringe. Before signing up to believe the lure of the fringe, set crap filters to stun and proceed with caution.

Exploring the Fringe

• The Definition of Fringe
• Value of the Fringe (This article)
• Danger of the Fringe
• Redefining Fringe
• Being the Fringe

 
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