NORTHWEST SAMAR STATE UNIVERSITY - SJC

PERSPECTIVES ON
LIVING SYSTEMS CHAPTER 1:LESSON 1

Hannah N. Ibanez
Audrey Rose M. Orabiles
BSABE-2
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OBJECTIVES
1. Explored biocultural expressions of knowledge on living
systems

2. Gained an appreciation of the changing paradigms about

living systems from antiquity to the Rennaissance

3. Reviewed the content of Biology in the context of the

History of Biology
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LIVING SYSTEMS IN
ORAL TRADITIONS

Biology concepts and principles that operate within

the physicality and materiality of living systems.
However, our appreciation of living systems has not
always been thus. Indeed, Biology reflects our efforts
to answer questions we humans have asked since
time immemorial, and how we figured out means of
answering them, and the answers we have given.
Questions such as:
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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO

THE WORLD AROUND US?
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From the dawn of humanity, we humans have been dependent on our

immediate environment for all of our needs:

water food

shelter clothing
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Ways
of Knowledge
Transmission
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RALLY
telling of stories

chanting and music

creation of visual arts

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EXPERIENTIALLY
experiencing living systems both physically and
metaphorically in nature walks, rituals, and dream
journeys.

direct teaching of the younger generations

in hunting and gathering expeditions
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hunter
Whose has a knowledge of wildlife,
capacity to read the slightest of
signs, and the capability to create
tools and weapons, teach the
knowledge of the environment
without words.
SPECIAL ROLES OF
KNOWLEDGEABLE
ELDERS
Ability to tell stories in a
memorable, engaging way,
performs an important teaching
function in the life of a tribe; for
stories, myths, and legends are
the means by which experiences
of the tribe, especially of
catastrophic events, are recorded
and stored. story teller
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SPECIAL ROLES OF
KNOWLEDGEABLE GATHERER
ELDERS Who has knowledge of
fruits, animals, and herbs
and their uses.
Who has knowledge of
the seasons and the signs
of the wind and sky.

FARMER
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NATURAL
WORLD
the land, plants, animals, seasons and cycles of nature
- has been a central tenet of their lives and worldviews
since the dawn of time.

Their understanding of the natural world is

sophisticated and comprehensive. It is not viewed as a
separate entity but one, interconnected aspect of the
whole. This interconnectedness equates to a moral
responsibility to care for, live in harmony with, and
respect the natural world.
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INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE,
SYSTEMS, AND
PRACTICES
Myths and legends and folklore are a part of what we call
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP).
These are traditional knowledge's are passed on through
traditional means for many many generations.
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This knowledge affects not only their forms of art

and oral literature but includes all aspects of life:
from knowledge of geography and climate that
allow them to “read” signs from nature -- the wind,
animal behavior, and the appearance of indicator
plants’ leaves and flowers -- to predict future
environmental conditions as accurately as any
barometer or weather gauge.
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INVENTIONS AND forms of clothing

TECHNOLOGIES
transportation

herbal-based medicines astronomy

storage and preparation

domestication of food
sustainable agricultural and industrial practices
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Examples of IKSP that have been verified by scientific studies

1. IK commercial utilization

The Hoodia plant is a case in the s

uccessful commercialization of traditional knowledge of
the San people of South Africa. Its active ingredient for
appetite suppression was patented by a South Africa-based
research institute in coordination with the San people,
and is now being used to help patients with obesity.
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2. Medicinal Plants

The DOH approved ten medicinal plants used in Philippine Traditional Medicine after
undergoing clinical studies.Currently, only ten (10) medicinal plants are approved and
recommended by the Department of Health (DOH), namely:

Cassia alata (akapulko) Blumea balsamifera (sambong)

Momordica charantia (ampalaya)
Allium sativum (bawang)
Psidium guajava (bayabas)
Vitex negundo (lagundi)
Quisqualis indica (niyog-niyogan)
Ehretia microphylla (tsaang gubat)
Peperomia pellucida (ulasimang bato or pansit-
pansitan)
Clinopodium douglasii (yerba buena)

(Veterans Regional Hospital 2015)

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Momordica
charantia (ampalaya)

Cassia alata (akapulko)

Psidium guajava
(bayabas)

Allium sativum (bawang)

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Blumea balsamifera
(sambong)

Vitex negundo (lagundi)

Quisqualis indica
(niyog-niyogan)

Ehretia microphylla (tsaang gubat)

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Clinopodium douglasii
Peperomia pellucida
(yerba buena)
(ulasimang bato or pansit-pansitan)
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3. Traditional health practices

Suob is a Philippine Traditional

practice used during pregnancy
and postnatal care. Suob is
similar to steaming and mother-
roasting practices in other SEA
cultures, for which there is
already some published research.
PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK/GOODBISHOP
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4. Traditional Knowledge on genetics

Philippine cultural concepts have

some implications to genetic
counseling. These concepts,
identified by Abad et al (2014)
include namamana, lihi, sumpa
and gaba, kaloob ng Diyos, among
others.
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5.Traditional Knowledge and Food Security

This web news article (Coates, 2015) mentions the need to

revive old farming practices and traditional crop varieties
in order to ensure food security:
Traditional knowledge the key to food security: academics
say.

Indigenous and local communities have an intimate knowledge of many

aspects of their surroundings and their daily lives. Over centuries people have
learned how to grow food and preserve and to survive in difficult
environments. They know what varieties of crops to plant, when to sow and
weed, which plants are poisonous, which can be used for control of diseases in
plants, livestock and human beings.
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6. Biodiversity management

Araral (2008), in his article

What can institutional analysis tell us about long lived societies? The case of the 2000 ye
ar old Ifugao society.
(in p. 17) relates how traditional rice cultivation practices by the Ifugao require the use
of different rice varieties for several reasons. This is a means by which biodiversity in
rice is conserved.
Traditional rice cultivation practices of the B’laan, T’boli, and
Subanen indigenous communities maintain and protect
biodiversity in the area. “The B’laan ethnic group of the south
has more than 100 varieties of rice and the T’boli group has 160
known rice varieties. To further exemplify the type of rice
varieties, Sumingit (2005) presents details of the characteristics
of at least 38 varieties of rice among the Subanen seed
keepers.”
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BIOCULTURAL
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge that is rooted both in the natural
environment and what is readily available, at
the same time grounded on the culture –
values and norms -- of the people who hold it.

A knowledge that encompasses people,

language and culture, and their relationship to
the environment.
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LIVING SYSTEMS
FROM ANTIQUITY
TO THE
RENNAISSANCE
The earliest material evidence in civilizations that
used the written word showed that societies kept
track of their livestock and grains, made bread, wine,
and cheese, and recorded astronomical data in order
to keep time and predict the weather.
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WHAT IS NOTEWORTHY IN OUR

HISTORY?
IS THE INVENTION OF THE
WRITTEN WORD AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP TO KNOWLEDGE
PRODUCTION, TRANSMISSION,
AND STORAGE.
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ORAL CULTURES
Storyteller was the keeper of knowledge

riddles tales
poems legends
proverbs myths
songs
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LITERATE CULTURES
►the clay tablets of the Sumerians,
knowledge
► the papyrus scrolls of the Egyptians,
was stored
► the bamboo, bone or wood of the early East
and thus
Asians
transmitted
►the animal hide of the Mayans,
through:
►the wax tablets of the Romans,
►the parchment that pervaded most of medieval
Europe
►the paper that held the records of the Chinese
empire and copies of the Qur’an.
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papyrus scrolls
clay tablets

bamboo, bone or wood animal hide

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wax tablets parchment

paper
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A. Sumerians and their Knowledge of Biology (4500 –

1750 BCE)
The knowledge held by the
Faithful in their recording of the medical lore
Sumerians was kept in clay tablets
of their time, particularly in the treatment of
written in cuneiform.
disease.

The use of herbs and animal material as

materia medica, dentistry, endocrinology,
histology, health and sanitation, among many
other subjects.
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Sumerian Belief System
Encompassedboth empirical
and the magical, for example, in
the treatment of disease.
Some diseases were attributed
to demon possession, and it
was believed that the sacrifice of
animals would cure this
possession through the
transmission of the demon.
Historians of Science
“While this may seem laughable in light of
today’s learning, the “demon” idea really was
scientifically sound – in this sense: In the
absence of a scientific canon, all ancient
civilizations sought to fathom the workings
of the universe in some other manner. Very
often, they attributed commonplace events to
demons, witches, and so forth… They were
speculating in a theoretical manner, and the
demon supposition was at least an attempt to
explain the transmission of illness.”
(Serafini, 2013)
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B. Greek Philosophers and their Theories

(800 – 300 BCE)
The Greek philosophers were noted for the
treatises that eloquently explain not only
their observations, hypotheses, and
conclusions about the world and Man’s
place in it, their works also show in detail
the methods by which they obtained these
insights.
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Greek phoilosophers and their scientific thought, specially in regard to

Biology

A. Thales the Milesian (639-544 B.C.)

Water is the basic reality of physical world.

He proposed theories to explain many of the

events of nature, the primary substance, the
support of the earth, and the cause of
change.
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B. Democritus of Abdera (470- C. Heraclitus (500 B.C.)

380 B.C.)
He developed the concept
Said that fire is the
of the 'atom', Greek for
basic element of
'indivisible'. Democritus
universe changing
believed that everything in
every time.
the universe was made up
of atoms, which were
microscopic and
indestructible.
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D. Epedocles (490-435 E. Anaxagores of Clazomenae (570-500

B.C.) B.C.)
Said that universe is
He felt it was not water nor
composed of fire, water,
apherion but air which was the
clay and air and these four
main force of life. Air represented
elements are also found in
life giving and life preserving
human body.
principles.
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F. Plato
(427-347 B.C.)

Famous Athenian
philosopher and teacher,
applied a semi-atomic
theory to the development
"Plato is widely recognized as the
of life.
first person to develop the concept
of an atom, the idea that matter is
composed of some indivisible
component at the smallest scale,"
says Douglas Jerolmack
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G. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle’s observations and

conclusions were to be
unsurpassed until the time of
the Renaissance. His analyses
and interpretations of
embryogenesis raised all of
the most important questions
of developmental biology.
Aristotle is known as the "Father of
Biology" because he thoroughly
researched the natural world and delved
into its origins using scientific theories and
methodical observations rather than
attributing them to supernatural
intervention.
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C. Medieval Europe and the Golden

Age of the Islamic Civilization

Medieval European
society
Commonly characterized as feudal and hierarchical.

In those agrarian societies where surplus was few, the production of
food and of goods used in the local communities are the primary
concern.

The business of seeking and using knowledge was relegated to a select

few who knew how to read and write.
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Levels
of
Hierarchies

ashlinbsocialstudies.weebly.com
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However, outside of the Church’s purview are the practical arts; and thus,
metallurgy, navigation, agriculture, and engineering continued to flourish
following the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The exposure of Europe to Near Eastern culture was inevitable, due first to
trade via the Silk Road, then the Crusades, and then the colonial expansion.
This contact led to the transmission of the combined knowledge from the
Arabic, Byzantine, Persian and Indian cultural traditions from the Golden
Age of the Islamic Civilization in the 12th century onwards.
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D. The European Enlightenment: The hypothetico-

deductive method and democratizing knowledge

Aristotelian Aristotle’s “Great Chain of Being”

Thought
was the dominant view for
a millennium in the West.
The major organizing principle and foundation of the
emerging science of biology until the 18th century.
16th – 17th century - only the Aristotelian worldview
was taught in all the leading universities of the time.
Mid- 17th century - the arguments of Descartes
proved to be most convincing in the European
continent.
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LIVING SYSTEMS IN
THE 19TH AND 20TH
CENTURY
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A. Reductionist Science and the growth of Biology

It was through this methodology that Biology, not quite a field of study
until the 18th century (for before, it was called natural history), branched
into sub disciplines including Anatomy, Microbiology, Genetics, Taxonomy,
Cell Biology, Embryology, Biochemistry, Physiology, and Molecular
Biology.Following the development of chemistry, and the increase in
analytical power of the X-ray crystallography, the chemical composition of
cells became an object of study, a feat anticipated since the age of Alchemy.
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During this period, Darwin published his theory of evolution.

In the 18th and 19th century, scientific expeditions were conducted by

trained naturalists.

Ecology was established by the late 19th century, and the concept of
ecosystems emerged in the mid 20th century, fusing matter and energy
flows into the study of ecology.This then became the basis of systems
ecology, which began circa 1960s to 1970s.
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B. Limits of mechanistic and reductionist

paradigms
The Cartesian analytical framework has led to the use of industrial practices that
were very efficient in bringing forth its desired outcomes.However, the singular focus
on desired outcomes has led to many unforseen consequences to the environment
and to human societies.

it is this utilitarian view of Nature that has led to the environmental crises that we
experience today.