Listen: Mātauranga Māori knowledge and science panel discussion

Mātauranga Māori is knowledge of everything in the universe – what you can see and can’t see.

It’s a worldview in which humans aren’t seen as superior to the natural world – just a part within in. We’re all connected – animals, plants, everything – in a ‘woven universe’.

Western mainstream science takes a different approach. Science is based on studying and measuring ‘objective reality’. It doesn’t explicitly proceed on the idea that humans are part of the natural world and therefore have responsibilities to it – as mātauranga Māori asserts.

This conversation discusses these distinct approaches to our understanding of the world – and ourselves.

Presented in partnership with Royal Society Te Apārangi

Views expressed in this recording may not reflect those of Royal Society Te Apārangi.