Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept across Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, as well as public management of risk. In Korea, this meant a shift in the model of development.
In a controversial move, the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests for the removal of examples of evolution from high school science textbooks. These include the evidence for the evolution of horses and the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has persuaded textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims that such materialism paints an unhopeful picture for students and leads to their eventual denial of faith.
When the STR's campaign hit the news, scientists around the world expressed worry. In 에볼루션사이트 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. His colleagues backed him from across the country who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Researchers are also worried that the STR campaign will spread to other parts of the globe where the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolutionist movement will push for textbook revisions in other countries, notably those with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the evolution debate. 26 percent of South Koreans are part of a religious group and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches that human beings are in a relationship with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings can be derived by doing good deeds.
All of this has made creationism fertile ground. Several studies have shown that students who have religion-based backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable about learning about evolution than students without religion. The reasons behind this aren't clear. Students with a religious background may not be as familiar with scientific theories, which makes them more susceptible to creationists influence. Another factor could be that those with religious backgrounds may see evolution as a belief system that is agnostic, making them feel uncomfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concerns in the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it would be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the success of creationism in some states, many scientists believe that the best strategy to counter this movement is not to engage it, but to inform people about the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists have a duty to educate their students about science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the general public about the scientific process and how knowledge from science is gathered and validated. They must also explain that theories of science are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misunderstandings regarding the nature of scientific research frequently fuel anti-evolution beliefs.
For example, some people confuse the term "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word, which is a hunch or guess. In science, however an hypothesis is rigorously tested, and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observations becomes a scientific concept.
The debate about evolution theory is a great occasion to discuss both the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is crucial for people to understand that science is not able to answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life it only serves as a mechanism that allows living things to grow and change.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is important because many jobs and decisions require that people understand the way science operates.
The majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have changed through time. A recent study predicting adults' opinions of the consensus on this issue found that those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe there is a consensus among scientists on the subject of human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less science knowledge tend to be more divided. It is crucial that teachers emphasize the importance of knowing the consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals have a solid basis for making informed decisions regarding their health care, energy usage and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to the popular evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution explores the many ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and interact with one another. Researchers in this field employ elaborate tools and investigative models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to human prehistory to find the origins of culture.
This approach also acknowledges the difference between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are largely acquired at once (in sexual species, after fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a lengthy period of time. In the end, the acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development of another.
In Korea for instance the emergence of Western fashion elements in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th centuries was the result of a complex series of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces that introduced Western hairstyles and clothes.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a few of these changes began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified and was again under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the financial crisis of recent, Korea's economy has been growing consistently over the past decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the near future.
However, the current government has many challenges to face. The inability of the government to develop an effective strategy to tackle the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has revealed shortcomings in the policies of the country, especially its over-reliance on exports and foreign investment, which may not last.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government has to reconsider its strategy and come up with other ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to reform the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems currently in place to ensure a stable financial environment. This chapter provides a number of scenarios for how the Korean economy might develop post-crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators is to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. Teachers should, for instance, be sensitive to the diversity of religions within their classrooms and create a learning environment where students of both religious and secular perspectives are at ease. Teachers must be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Finally, teachers must have access to a range of resources to teach evolution and be able locate them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation had a key role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss the best methods for teaching about Evolution. The participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational researchers, officials from government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will serve as the foundation for future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the study of evolution should be incorporated in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) which require the integration of evolution across all life sciences with an educational progression that is developmental appropriate, are a good way to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how to integrate evolution into the science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more comprehensive presentation of evolution leads to better understanding by students and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify the causality of teaching in the classroom since the curriculum for schools do not change in a random manner and are affected by the timing of state board of education and gubernatorial elections. To overcome this issue, i use a longitudinal data set that gives me control for state and years fixed effects as well as individual-level differences in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to teaching it. 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 might be more likely use strategies such as a reconciliatory approach known to improve the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).