Essay On Indigenous Knowledge System

The world of knowledge is everchanging. A statement generally accepted as fact one day can be revised, edited, or completely thrown out the next. Knowledge systems must grow and evolve as time moves and new information, resources, and opportunities are available. In both the areas of knowledge of natural sciences and indigenous knowledge systems, information accepted as knowledge changes constantly, and these knowledge systems reflect the day-to-day changes that come with them. Natural sciences involve not only the research of the natural world around us but also the constant discovery and synthesis of new information as it becomes available in research. Indigenous knowledge systems consist of knowledge built over a passage of time in a traditional or cultural practice. Indigenous knowledge, as a knowledge system that largely depends on information gathered over time, must combine historically true information with knowledge that changes with time due to circumstances or changes in the world. These areas of knowledge can be viewed and critically considered when examined through the lens of the ways of knowing of reason and memory. Reason must be applied in the natural science in the form of simple logic: The scientific method is based on the concept of reason itself in involving the formation of a hypothesis and multiple tests to draw a conclusion to a prior question; that is, it involves thinking critically and reasoning one’s way through a process. In indigenous knowledge, similarly, reason must be applied to make logical choices in decision making.

The term “natural sciences” applies to any science observed and examined in the natural world, specifically any information that can be processed and tested through scientific exam...

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...s new pieces of evidence or even new perspectives based on other memories rise. Also, oral storytelling is often considered to be an “invalid” method of recordkeeping after three generations have passed on a story. Because perspectives and memories change with time, the message changes too. These factors all add to why knowledge, particularly knowledge derived from memory, is sometimes “discarded,” as the statement says.

Natural science and indigenous knowledge systems both build areas of knowledge in today’s world and past societies as means of gathering data, building understandings, and making deductions about life. Information builds and evolves, revising itself as new data is understood, and both reason and memory must be applied to help this understanding. As the world changes at a brisk pace, knowledge does too, and knowing as a whole reflects these changes.