[goodcanadian]

I might find, however, some agreement with the spirit of the article. It seems to me that, even though the author doesn't articulate it properly, the idea is that scientists should pursue more fringe theories even if immediate confirmation is lacking. I think there's quite a bit of value in this, as long as your predictions are always checked against reality.

I have seen notable academics say the same thing. The problem is that the incentives set up in modern academia are strongly against doing anything outside of the mainstream.