A tradition regarding a particular event is the same as the existence of memory regarding an event. This is a good reason to believe that the same event actually took place as remembered. Research on the event could lead to a partial or complete refutation of tradition, but without this occurrence, importance should be attributed to tradition as a significant historical source. Without this idea, we are blocking the possibility of knowing many ideas about the past that have no documentation other than that the events were considered as a tradition.
The second element related to tradition is trust, the basic trust in other people’s testimonies and in the information that they give to us. Like memory, trust is not only a unique component of tradition but is a necessary condition for any building of knowledge. No man, however talented, can be in all places and at all times available to acquire all knowledge on his own. Every person must rely on the testimonies of others to gain knowledge: the words of his parents, teachers, educators, lecturers, textbook authors, and so on.
