michael_nielsen

Doesn't need to be right, just very unusual and not obviously, unequivocally false.

Another nice example: David Glanzman and others' work on the idea that long-term memories may not be stored in synapses.

Another good example from the past: Julian Jaynes' outrageous-but-stimulating theory of consciousness.

Homotopy type theory, especially by people who believe ZFC is inconsistent.

A slightly related idea that I like is the idea that the P vs NP problem may be independent of the usual axioms.

Which smart people are working on that one? I've only heard it stated with no evidence presented.

Scott Aaronson has a nice long review. Didn't link to it, since Google wants to gum up the link for some reason, but easy to find.

I've read that review, but both the review itself and nearly all citations are arguments/evidence against independence, not for.