When Scientists “Discover” What Indigenous People Have Known for Centuries

(I don&#x27;t want to dismiss peoples knowledge but talk about the scientic method).<p>But there is a difference between science and &quot;peoples knowledge&quot;. Accepting things that people say is not science. One would have hoped for the authors at the Smithsonian to have a better understanding of science.<p>While the article makes wide claims of &quot;dismissal&quot; it doesn&#x27;t provide any examples of wide spread dismissal E.g. in papers.<p>I especially liked<p>&quot;[Or] we can say that the Western scientists finally caught up with Traditional Knowledge after several thousand years.&quot;<p>If we assume science starts with Aristotle, it would be ~2k years of science, if Aristotle was ignoring this Traditional Knowledge. If we assume that scientists started with the &quot;arrival&quot; in Australia, it&#x27;s 200 years.

&gt;Previous accounts of avian use of fire have been dismissed or at least viewed with some skepticism<p>I&#x27;m perpetually astonished (or, perhaps, saddened) that &quot;indigenous knowledge&quot; (aka &quot;anecdotes&quot; or &quot;regional mythology&quot;) is so quickly dismissed by self-proclaimed &quot;scientists&quot;<p><i>All</i> legends, lore, mthys, etc have basis in <i>some</i> set of facts - many are <i>notably</i> closer to &quot;reality&quot; than modern &quot;scientists&quot; and our scientism-oriented society realizes