Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of government-business alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea this meant an evolution of the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has asked textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution in high school science textbooks. These include the evidence for evolution of horses as well as the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has pushed textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the move. The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, making them abandon their faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists from all over the world reacted with worry. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe at Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was supported by colleagues from around the country who gathered into a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are also concerned that the STR campaign will be spread to other parts of the world where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
click the next internet site has a particularly significant cultural context for the debate about evolution. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to an organized religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, many Koreans adhere to the Ch'ondogyo philosophy, which is founded on Confucian principles which emphasizes harmony in society and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a belief system that teaches that humans are one with Hanulnim the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings are possible by doing good deeds.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Several studies have shown that students who have religion-based backgrounds tend to feel more uncomfortable about learning evolution than those who do not have a religious background. The underlying causes are not evident. Students with a religious background may be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, which makes them more vulnerable to creationists influence. Another reason could be that those with religious backgrounds may see evolution as a concept that is agnostic, making them less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times, the scientific community has been concerned about the anti-evolution agenda in schools. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that despite the popularity of creationism the best way to combat this movement is to educate the public on the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are accountable to teach their students science, which includes the theory of evolution. They should also educate the public on the research process and the way in which knowledge is verified. They must explain how theories of science are frequently challenged and revised. However, misconceptions about the nature of scientific research often create anti-evolution beliefs.
Many people mistake the term "theory" as a guess, or a guess. In science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed is then a scientific principle.
The debate about the theory of evolution is a wonderful chance to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to understand that science does not answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but allows living things to grow and evolve.
A well-rounded education should include exposure to all the major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is especially important since the jobs that people hold and the choices they make require understanding of how science works.
The vast majority of scientists around world believe that humans have evolved over time. A recent study predicting adults' view of the consensus on this subject found that those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less knowledge of science tend to be more divided. It is essential that teachers insist on the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus so that people can make informed decisions about energy use, health care and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close cousin to the popular evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution studies the numerous ways that humans and other species learn from and with each other. Researchers in this area use explanatory tools and investigative models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to prehistoric times to determine the origins of culture.
This method also acknowledges that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. While biological traits are largely acquired in one go (in sexual species, after fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. As a result, the emergence of one cultural trait can influence the development of another.
In Korea the introduction of Western elements of style in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result an intricate sequence of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s some of these changes began to reverse. At the close of World War II, Korea was once more united but this time under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown consistently over the last decade and is poised to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
The current government is faced by a myriad of problems. One of the most serious is its inability to develop an effective strategy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has revealed weaknesses in the country's policies particularly its dependence on exports and foreign investment, which may not last.
As the crisis has shattered the confidence of investors, the government must review its economic strategy and come up with alternatives to increase domestic demand. It will also have to reform the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems in place to guarantee the stability of the financial system. This chapter offers a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy might develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for educators of evolution lies in how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for various stages of development and ages. For example, teachers must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a setting that students who have secular and religious views feel comfortable in learning about evolution. Moreover, teachers need to be aware of common misconceptions about evolution, and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Teachers must also have easy access to the various resources available to teach evolution.
In this context, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of fields to discuss most effective methods of teaching about evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as officials of government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse parties helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will be the basis for future action.
It is important to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. To accomplish this, the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in a seamless way across the life sciences, with a progression of concepts that are developmental appropriate. A new publication from NRC provides guidelines to schools about how to incorporate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more comprehensive presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in evolution. However, estimating the causal effect of evolution in the classroom is a challenge due to the fact that school curriculums are not assigned randomly and change over time because of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this limitation I employ an ongoing dataset that gives me control for the effects of years and states fixed and individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is consistent with the hypothesis that a faculty with more confidence is less likely to avoid discussing evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they could be more likely to employ strategies, such as the reconciliatory approach that has been proven to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss 2019; Tolman et al., 2020).