COMPARISONS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL & SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Table 1 - Comparisons between traditional and scientific knowledge styles

 

Indigenous Knowledge

Scientific Knowledge

assumed to be the truth

assumed to be a best approximation

sacred and secular together

secular only

teaching through storytelling

didactic

learning by doing and experiencing

learning by formal education

oral or visual

written

integrated, based on a whole system

analytical, based on subsets of the whole

intuitive

model-  or hypothesis-based

holistic

reductionist

subjective

objective

experiential

positivist

 

Table 2 - Comparisons between traditional and scientific knowledge in use

Indigenous Knowledge

Scientific Knowledge

lengthy acquisition

rapid acquisition

long-term wisdom

short-term prediction

powerful prediction in local areas

powerful predictability in natural principles

weak in predictive principles in distant areas

weak in local areas of knowledge

models based on cycles

linear modeling as first approximation

explanations based on examples, anecdotes, parables

explanations bases on hypothesis, theories, laws

Classification:

  • a mix of ecological and use
  • non-hierachical differentiation
  • includes everything natural and supernatural

Classification:

  • based on phylogenic relationships
  • hierarchical differentiation
  • excludes the supernatural
 
   
 

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