Its taken thousands of years, but Western science is finally catching up to Traditional Knowledge

[Judi Lynn]

It’s taken thousands of years, but Western science is finally catching up to Traditional Knowledge
February 14, 2018 7.04pm EST

Our knowledge of what the denizens of the animal kingdom are up to, especially when humans aren’t around, has steadily increased over the last 50 years. For example, we know now that animals use tools in their daily lives. Chimps use twigs to fish for termites; sea otters break open shellfish on rocks they selected; octopi carry coconut shell halves to later use as shelters.

The latest discovery has taken this assessment to new heights, literally. A team of researchers led by Mark Bonta and Robert Gosford in northern Australia has documented kites and falcons, colloquially termed “firehawks,” intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire. While it has long been known that birds will take advantage of natural fires that cause insects, rodents and reptiles to flee and thus increase feeding opportunities, that they would intercede to spread fire to unburned locales is astounding.

It’s thus no surprise that this study has attracted great attention as it adds intentionality and planning to the repertoire of non-human use of tools. Previous accounts of avian use of fire have been dismissed or at least viewed with some skepticism.

While new to Western science, the behaviours of the nighthawks have long been known to the Alawa, MalakMalak, Jawoyn, and other Indigenous peoples of northern Australia whose ancestors occupied their lands for tens of thousands of years. Contrary to most scientific studies, Bonta and Gosford’s team foregrounded their research in traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge. They also note that local awareness of the behaviour of the firehawks is ingrained within some of their ceremonial practices, beliefs and creation accounts.

More:
https://theconversation.com/its-taken-thousands-of-years-but-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-traditional-knowledge-90291

[Angry Dragon]

1. KICK..............Life is strange

[OhNo-Really]

2. lov eyour science reports. thanks

[trotsky]

3. What this article labels "Traditional Knowledge" is really just "Western Science."

Because all that "Western Science" is, is the scientific method, really. Observe, hypothesize, experiment, repeat.

I don't think it serves humanity to try and pit "Traditional Knowledge" against "Western Science." I really hate that narrative.

[SCantiGOP]

4. Thumbs up, Trotsky

[DetlefK]

6. Modern science was developed in Europe, however we have to...

... however we have to differentiate between "research" in general and "science" as a specific method of doing research.

Science has 3 roots:
- The hispanic esoteric Ramon Llull made the concept of laws of nature popular again in the late Middle-Ages.
- During the Renaissance, Hermeticism (an occult, magic-based version of Christianity) postulated that man is capable of using and manipulating these laws of nature to further his own goals.
- Newton, Descartes, Mersenne... they pushed for making mathematics the language of nature.

And with these ingredients, the scientific method was developed in 17th/18th century Europe.



E.g. what arabic, medieval scholars did for discovering medicine and mathematics was research, however as the field of acceptable explanations was limited by religion, this research was not (in strict definition) "science" as we use it nowadays.



A slightly different version of science is e.g. Zetetics. Science says that there is a final truth, however we cannot find it. We can only say with a certain probability what that final truth is. Zetetics denies that there is something as a final truth. In Zetetics, research has no end, because nothing is final and everything changes.
(E.g. Flat-Earthers love Zetetics, because it gives them an excuse to denounce scientists as boneheaded, dogmatic fanatics.)

[DetlefK]

5. The correct term would be '"folklore", not "traditional knowledge".

If you mix knowledge with tales and rituals and traditions, it becomes folklore. And then the problem is sifting the original knowledge from these tales and rituals and traditions.