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Focus
Top Photo credit: (clockwise from far left) Steven Lansing; PhotoDisc; Joshua Rosenthal
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Ancient Teachings, Modern Lessons David A. Taylor Abstract
In recent years researchers have looked for areas where local or traditional knowledge can merge with modern science for better policy and health care. Recent thinking suggests that traditional knowledge, as a fund of cultural heritage and empirical information, should be preserved and researched. But critics believe that studies using traditional knowledge may threaten to compromise the rigor of the scientific method, and that unmerited trust in tradition can endanger human health. However, experiences in studying ethnomedicine, traditional ecosystem management, and indigenous practices for community health all suggest that health professionals may benefit by innovatively combining the best of science with the best of the old ways.
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