Representing and coordinating ethnobiological knowledge

Weiskopf, Daniel A.

doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101328

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…While it is true that many magic practices do involve personalized spirits, there are two problems with this dichotomization. First, whether individuals themselves make this emic distinction is highly debatable (Lohmann, 2003;Weiskopf, 2020), with some authors suggesting that religious practices in small-scale societies are simply practical know-how, along with various hunting and gathering techniques (Dennett, 2006, p. 161). Second, even if we grant that this emic distinction exists, it is unclear why causal opacity of some mechanism depends on the presumed involvement of spirits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution

Jagiello¹,

Heyes²,

Whitehouse³

2022

Behav Brain Sci

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Cultural evolution depends on both innovation (the creation of new cultural variants by accident or design) and high-fidelity transmission (which preserves our accumulated knowledge and allows the storage of normative conventions). What is required is an overarching theory encompassing both dimensions, specifying the psychological motivations and mechanisms involved. The Bifocal Stance Theory (BST) of cultural evolution proposes that the co-existence of innovative change and stable tradition results from our ability to adopt different motivational stances flexibly during social learning and transmission. We argue that the ways in which instrumental and ritual stances are adopted in cultural transmission, influence the nature and degree of copying fidelity and thus also patterns of cultural spread and stability at a population level over time. BST creates a unifying framework for interpreting the findings of otherwise seemingly disparate areas of inquiry, including social learning, cumulative culture, overimitation and ritual performance. We discuss the implications of BST for competing by-product accounts which assume that faithful copying is merely a side-effect of instrumental learning and action parsing. We also set out a novel ‘cultural action framework’ bringing to light aspects of social learning that have been relatively neglected by behavioural ecologists and evolutionary psychologists and establishing a roadmap for future research on this topic. The BST framework sheds new light on the cognitive underpinnings of cumulative cultural change, selection, and spread within an encompassing evolutionary framework.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution

Jagiello¹,

Heyes²,

Whitehouse³

2022

Behav Brain Sci

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“…With regard to medicinal uses, there has been criticism of the poor description and development of therapeutic indications leading to biased data and poor outcomes [16]. Weiskopf illustrated that there is an assumption that traditional ecological knowledge can be "plugged" in to "academic ecological knowledge" unchanged and that there is an assumed category and explanatory overlap between both as is the case, he argues, in the validation process in medical bioprospecting [201]. Taking the current analysis of C. spinarum, a local diagnosis of malaria is assumed in some studies to equate to the BM category malaria or "typhoid" to typhoid [202].…”

Section: Discussion On Ethnobiology Of C Spinarummentioning

confidence: 99%

Carissa spinarumL.: A Case Study in Ethnobotany and Bioprospecting Research

Smyth¹,

Sheridan²

2022

Medicinal Plants

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This study explores ethnobiological and bioprospecting research through the lens of Carissa Spinarum L., using it as a case study to examine wider trends in such research. Hunn’s Phasing in Ethnobiology is used as a framework, analysing the extensive research of a species used in healing, diet and other domains. Most reported studies are illustrative of Phase I Ethnobiological research based on the lack of basic context, emic or ecological detail, or a sense of collaboration with participants or across disciplines. Elements of Phases II, III and IV are evident in some studies highlighting ethnographic context, ecological issues or indigenous knowledge and rights. The extractive character of Phase I research, usually used for bioprospecting purposes, decontextualises plant use and may contribute to the historically poor results from ethno-directed bioprospecting. The widespread marginalisation of the social sciences in bioprospecting research can invalidate the whole research project and in turn ethnomedical plant use itself. A species such as Carissa Spinarum L., emerging from Phase I research, can become a mere collection of its phytochemical parts, invalidated if those parts do not meet scientific measures of value. The collaborative character of Phase IV and V Ethnobiology would reward with more ethical and effective research with healing plants.

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“…The artisanal effects of dolphin fishing can be reduced by the negative effects based on public knowledge. People's culture has a lot of knowledge and is articulated in the knowledge of the universe (Weiskopf, 2020). Ethnobiology aims to find ways to integrate public knowledge with scientific knowledge produced by academics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The instructional design of ethnoscience-based inquiry learning for scientific explanation about Taxus sumatrana as cancer medication

Sudarmin

Diliarosta

Pujiastuti

et al. 2020

Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists

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The ethnoscience approach is carried out by integrating local wisdom culture in science learning. The Minang community believes that the Taxus sumatrana plant is a cancer drug. But they have not been able to explain its benefits conceptually based on scientific inquiry with relevant references. This study aims to solve these problems through (1) designing ethnoscience-based inquiry learning to study the bioactivity of Taxus sumatrana; and (2) describe scientific experiments on plants as cancer drugs. This research includes qualitative research to reconstruct scientific explanations based on local wisdom. The data were obtained through observations at the research location regarding community local wisdom and laboratory activities including isolation, phytochemical identification, and chemical structure testing using Perkin Elmer 100 FT-IR spectroscopy. All data obtained were analyzed and corroborated by various relevant sources. The results of the analysis concluded that the appropriate learning design was an integrated model; and secondary metabolites found in the bark and leaves of Taxus sumatrana were tested using water, ethanol, ethanol + n-hexane, and ethanol + benzene as solvents, including terpenoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, phenolics, and saponins. The results showed that Taxus sumatrana can act as an anticancer because in the experimental laboratory it is known that terpenoids as taxols, phenolics, and other oxygenated metabolites which have the potential to be anticancer.

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Representing and coordinating ethnobiological knowledge

Cited by 18 publications

References 37 publications

Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution

Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution

Carissa spinarumL.: A Case Study in Ethnobotany and Bioprospecting Research

The instructional design of ethnoscience-based inquiry learning for scientific explanation about Taxus sumatrana as cancer medication

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