A kook, Daddy-O, is a screwball who is “gone” farther than most.
Daily Mail, August 22, 1960
Most theories that come out of the fringe are wrong. Hardly a point of any real contention to be sure. The world of kook science is populated by colourful wonks, unyielding grouches, the highly uneducated, the utterly mad, and, as follows, they’re usually working from cues that do not correspond to what is known about the world.
It is equally clear that we can never discount anything, no matter how ridiculous the theory or weird the theorist. It is as important to present alternative theories, to challenge them, as it is any conventional theory, because sometimes, just sometimes, the kooks have it right, and the world had it wrong all along.
The challenge of the world is to know the difference, and to resist with our last breaths when we know we’re right.
Even when we’re wrong, because, even when we’re wrong, we’re pushing the world to prove it.
