1. Comparing World Views: The Dominant Western World and “The Traditional Aboriginal Perspective”.

2. Comparing Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

3. What are the characteristics of science? What are the criticisms of science What are the characteristics of traditional ecological knowledge? What are the criticisms of traditional ecological knowledge?

4. Some Characteristics of Science: Fact based. Evidence from experiments. Underlying skepticism or questioning. Subject to revision. Reductionism. “Value free”. Emphasis on measurement and quantitative analysis.

5. Some Characteristics of Science (Continued): Communication: knowledge is primarily passed on in a written form (e.g. textbooks, journals, libraries are important). Other formats include conferences and public lectures. Science is based on public debate and peer review.

6. Some Criticisms of Science: Science is isolated from other aspects of life (compartmentalization). Science does a poor job of looking at the “big picture”. Funding influences science (e.g., the research topics pursued by scientists).

7. Some Criticisms of Science (Continued): To a degree, science is knowledge based on authority (e.g., people without appropriate credentials are not taken seriously; previous research is taken “on faith” [assumed to be correct] at the level of the individual scientist because it would be impossible to make progress if each individual had to replicate every previous study).

8. Some Characteristics of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): Knowledge is based on experience. Often, TEK practitioners have more “empirical data” than scientists. TEK is passed down through generations. TEK is holistic. TEK is connected to other aspects of life. TEK and religion are interconnected.

9. Some Characteristics of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (Continued): TEK grows by accumulation (science grows by revision). TEK has a long history (compared to science). TEK includes a land ethic (unlike science). Communication: knowledge is primarily communicated orally.

10. A Criticism of Traditional Ecological Knowledge: TEK is not questioned in the same way as science (skepticism, public debate, etc., are not central elements of TEK).