Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia caused a significant rethinking of the old model of government-business alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a change in the model of development.
In a controversial move, the South Korean government has requested publishers of textbooks to ignore calls to remove examples of evolution in high school science textbooks. This includes the evidence supporting the evolution of horses and the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A creationist group in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to omit evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The decision was the result of a campaign led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) which is an affiliate of the Korea Association for Creation Research, which wants to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates a negative image for students, making them lose faith.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists around the world expressed worry. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe of Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from across the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are concerned that the STR could be spread to other regions of the world, where creationism has been growing. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement will push for textbook revisions in other countries, particularly those with strong Christian and Muslim populations.
The South Korean culture is particularly strong in the evolution debate. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to an organized religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, the philosophy based on Confucian principles, which emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo believes that humans are in a relationship with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heaven-bound blessings can be obtained by doing good deeds.
All of this has made creationism a fertile ground. Several studies have shown that students with religious backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable when learning about evolution than those who do not have a religious background. 에볼루션 무료체험 underlying causes are not obvious. Students with a religious background may not be as knowledgeable about the theories of science, making them more vulnerable to creationists' influence. Another possible factor is that students with religious beliefs tend to view evolution as an atheistic idea, which may make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times scientists have been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that over 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is a lie, and that a belief in it would conflict with their faith-based beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the popularity of creationism the best method to stop this movement is to educate the public on the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to instruct their students in science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the process of scientific research and how knowledge is confirmed. They should explain how theories of science are frequently challenged and revised. However, misinformation about the nature and purpose of research can fuel anti-evolution views.
For instance, some people are able to confuse the term "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word, which is a hunch or a guess. In the realm of science theories are rigorously tested and verified with evidence. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principal.
The debate about the evolutionary theory provides a great occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential for people to understand that science is unable to answer questions regarding the purpose or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism by which living things can grow and change.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to all the major scientific fields, including evolutionary biology. This is essential because a variety of jobs and decisions require people understand the way science works.
The vast majority of scientists around world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study predicting adults' opinions of the consensus on this issue found that those with higher levels of education and science knowledge were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement among scientists on the subject of human evolution. Those who have more religious beliefs and have less science knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is critical that educators emphasize the importance of understanding the consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid basis for making informed choices about their health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close relative of mainstream evolutionary theory. It explores how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this area use elaborate tools and investigative models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to prehistoric times to determine the earliest sources of culture.
This method also acknowledges that there are differences between the characteristics of culture and biological. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually while biological traits are mostly inherited at the same time (in sexual species, at fertilization). In the end, the emergence of one cultural trait may affect the development of another.
In Korea, the adoption of Western styles in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result an elaborate sequence of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western clothing and hairstyles.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s some of these trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified, this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent financial crisis the economy of Korea has been growing steadily over the last decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the near future.
The current government is faced with a variety of challenges. One of the biggest is the inability to come up with an effective strategy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed the shortcomings in the policies of the country particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports which could not last.
The crisis has shaken confidence of investors. As a result, the government has to reconsider its approach and find ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to revamp the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems in place to guarantee a stable financial environment. This chapter outlines several scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators is to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different ages and stages of development. Teachers need to, for instance, be sensitive to the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a learning environment where students with both secular and religious beliefs are at ease. Teachers must be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to correct them in the classroom. Finally, teachers must be able to access a range of resources for teaching evolution and be able to locate them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss best practices for teaching about Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders led to the development of a set of shared recommendations that will serve as the basis for future actions.
It is important to include evolution in all science curricula, at every level. To achieve this it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a unified manner across all sciences, with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. A new publication from NRC provides guidance to schools about how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more thorough presentation of evolution is linked to a greater understanding of students and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify the causality of teaching in the classroom since school curricula do not change randomly and are affected by the timing of state boards of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue I utilize an ongoing data set that allows me to account for state and year fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about the evolution of their curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is consistent with the notion that a more confident faculty is less likely to avoid discussing evolution subjects in the classroom. They also might be more likely employ strategies, such as the reconciliatory approach that has been proven to increase undergraduate student acceptance of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al., 2020).