A good friend of mine has just told me an anecdote that reveals the importance of popular knowledge.

 "A simple farmer aspired that the eldest of his sons should do a university degree program . He succeeded and, moreover, with an added joy: the boy chose degree program Biological Sciences. As a senior, he once again spent the Christmas vacations at his father's house. In order to collaborate in the construction of the family Nativity Scene, one day he went out into the bush to collect moss. He was very surprised that in plenary session of the Executive Council winter some rosemary plants were in bloom. He rushed back to inform his father of what he considered an anomaly of nature; he also thought of writing an article for a scientific magazine. After receiving the news, his father told him: "What good did it do you to do degree program in Biology? It would have helped you more to know this proverb: "Rosemary blossoms and a girl to marry you will always find".

In this case, popular knowledge in the form of a proverb has been more useful than scientific knowledge. A proverb is a short sentence expressing a moral thought, or a teaching.

The popular knowledge is the common and spontaneous way of knowing, which is acquired in the direct attention with things and people. It is the knowledge that fills our daily life and that is possessed without having been sought or studied, without the application of a method (J. Babini).

This knowledge is currently little valued and socially recognized because it is not "scientific" (as if the two were incompatible with each other). It is forgotten that an important part of popular knowledge is in the sayings collected or created by illustrious authors of Spanish literature, such as the Marquis of Santillana, Archpriest of Hita, Don Juan Manuel, Lope de Vega, Cervantes, Fernán Caballero and José María Iribarren, among many others. Sayings are a valuable storehouse of wisdom. They are the voice of the people; that is why they never get old.

 In Don Quixote, Cervantes gives us sample the living language of shepherds, muleteers, wanderers, etc. He gathers the spoken language of his time, sprinkled with proverbs, and puts them in the mouths of his characters, thus transmitting the mentality of the people. Cervantes values sayings highly: "It seems to me, Sancho, that there is no saying that is not true, because they are all sentences taken from experience, the mother of all sciences".

 Both protagonists of Don Quixote use proverbs, but Don Quixote does so with more restraint and judgment. That is why he corrects his faithful squire in this way: "Look Sancho, I bring proverbs to purpose and they come, when I say them, like a ring to my finger; but you bring them so much by the hair that you drag them and do not guide them. If I am not agreement wrong, I have told you again that proverbs are short sentences drawn from experience; and the proverb that does not come to purpose is nonsense rather than a sentence."

Some sayings from Don Quixote are incorporated into the colloquial language of our time. For example, the following: a Dios rogando y con el mazo dando; la codicia rompe el saco; quien busca el peligro en él perece; donde una puerta se cierra otra se abre; quien bien te quiere te hará llorar.

Some people are suspicious of sayings. It is said that a letter carrier who was about to take the mail to a country house was frightened when he heard the barking of the dog guarding the farm. A neighbor encouraged him with these words "barking dog little biter!" The letter carrier's reply: I like that wise and timely saying, but does the dog know it too?"
 

It is highly desirable that those who obtain the knowledge through mere experience join their efforts to those who do it through the scientific research , thus creating a valuable synergy. I suggest promote a dialogue of knowledge, with the interaction of two different logics: that of the scientific knowledge and that of everyday knowledge, with the purpose of understanding and enriching each other.