Traditional knowledge is the set of practices, values, and wisdom that form part of the legacy of a given human community —that is, of a human group with its own identity and cultural system. This knowledge differs from other forms of knowledge (such as scientific knowledge , for example) in that it is not the result of a formal education or research process , but is passed down from generation to generation as part of rituals, practices, and procedures developed over time.
Traditional knowledge encompasses not only the cultural expressions and popular traditions belonging to a given community, but also the accumulated experience, practices, and skills that that community accumulates, values, and fosters among its members. When we talk about traditional knowledge, we can refer to very diverse contexts, such as agricultural, medicinal, ecological, or political techniques and procedures, among many others.
In general, this knowledge can be classified as:
- Symbolic knowledge. It is linked to cultural perspective and the way we perceive the world or connect imaginatively with the community, spirituality, or the past.
- Social knowledge. It is linked to patterns of social organization, that is, the ways of conceiving society, distributing resources, and resolving conflicts.
- Technological knowledge. This knowledge is linked to the accumulation of practical knowledge and to the production or solution of problems, such as making tools or obtaining certain resources.
Unlike other types of knowledge , traditional knowledge is generally shared by the community and not administered by a formal institution. It is a body of knowledge that is mostly informal, rarely organized into a body of scholarship, but which contains the rich historical legacy of diverse human communities.
Traditional knowledge often contains secrets still hidden from contemporary science, which, because they do not originate in the industrialized world, have been underestimated or ignored for years. Moreover, this knowledge is part of the unique and unrepeatable legacy of the world’s diverse peoples—that is, of their cultural identity.
- See also: Empirical knowledge
Examples of traditional knowledge
Some examples of traditional knowledge are:
- Inca terrace farming techniques. This agricultural method, typical of the South American Andean civilizations, allowed for the use of steep terrain and seemingly unusable land. This terracing system made it possible to maximize water runoff to irrigate, transferring the excess water to the next level of the slope.
- The medicinal use of the neem tree. In traditional Latin American medicine and that of certain Pacific Rim communities, the neem tree ( Azadirachta indica ), native to Burma and India, is used to relieve inflammation and irritation, as well as bleeding mucous membranes and hemorrhoids. Its traditional use long predated its industrial discovery, and today it is used in the pharmaceutical industry and in the production of soaps and ointments.
- The Inuit people’s igloo construction. The Eskimos are human communities who have lived for millennia in the face of the most intense cold and have learned to build ideal dwellings (igloos), whose shape and materials allow them to escape the icy winds from regions near the Arctic and retain internal heat for their inhabitants.
- Ayurvedic traditional medicine. This body of traditional medical knowledge is native to Indian tradition, and although it is considered a pseudoscience (there is no evidence that it cures any disease), a large part of the population of India and Nepal uses Ayurveda to treat their ailments. This healing practice comes from ancient Vedic and post-Vedic texts dating from between the 7th century BC and 2nd century AD.
- The Aboriginal Languages of Sub-Saharan Africa. This rich and diverse set of languages native to the African continent has been extensively studied by linguistic specialists, who recognize in it an important legacy, but one that has been severely damaged by centuries of European colonialism and transculturation. Despite this, many of these languages, such as the Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congolese, and Khoisan, still survive and retain their richness.
- Traditional Chinese religion. Known as Shenism or Han religion, it is a type of indigenous Chinese religion influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, doctrines that traditional religion predates. It is a polytheistic and shamanistic religion that worships deceased ancestors and various types of spiritual deities.
- Traditional Chinese medicine. This is an alternative medicine that combines superstitions, theories about the body, and practices such as acupuncture, meditation, and restorative massages into a body of practice whose beneficial effects on the body have been extensively studied and debated, without reaching a definitive conclusion. Similar traditional medical systems exist in Japan, Mongolia, Korea, and Tibet.
