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-----Original Message-----
From: David Smith [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 4:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: religion AND science (as opposed to versus)
If, on the other hand, we actually want to make some progress toward
(perhaps uneasy) coexistence, then we need to step away from classifying
everything rigidly as scientific or not, and begin to look at the world
through lenses that allow for a variety of ways of gathering knowledge.
The Amazonian shaman's incredible knowledge of tropical ecosystems and
pharmacology is integrally interwoven with supernatural spirituality.
We make a grave mistake when we ignore that knowledge because what we
believe to be the medicinal effects of a plant are attributed by the
shaman to spirits.  That doesn't mean we have to throw away falsifiable
theories as an important way to gather knowledge, but it does mean we
have to be open to other ways as also being valid ways to gather
knowledge and particularly as valid ways to gather knowledge about the
natural world.
=============================

Back up a second there!

I will readily grant that the shaman from the Amazon basin in question does
know a lot about the local flora and its medicinal applications, and anyone
would be foolish to discount his knowledge.

But spare me the riff about him having "alternate ways of knowing" (a phrase
that ought to be done away with) or any such flim-flam.

That shaman knows a lot about the medicinal value of local plants because
he's tried them out on different maladies and seen how well they worked (or
didn't). He's tried lots of different plants to see what gets the best
results. He's been taught what his shamanic forebears did and what they
learned. In other words, he sure as heck didn't gain his knowledge through
some supernatural means; he's done experiments, compared variables, done
research on a previously gained body of knowledge... bygosh, he's been doing
SCIENCE.

If someone were to say "This stuff helps with problems X+Y, my people have
been using it for years and it works great!" then that's something to lend
some credence to, at least enough to do some tests and find out for
yourself. 

But if all they can offer up is "There's no way to prove this works --- but
the spirits tell me it will, and I'm in touch with the spirits. Don't be so
stubbornly devoted to your scientific way of knowing!" Well, then you may as
well head back to medicine via faith healing, homeopathy and magic amulets.
No thanks.

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

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