Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that hit Asia required a major review of the old system of government-business alliances and the management by the public of private risks. In Korea, this meant a shift in the model of development.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests for removing examples of evolution from science texts for high school students. These include the evidence of the evolution of horses and of the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high school science texts. This was the result of a campaign by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) which is an offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialistic views create a negative image for students and can lead to their eventual denial of faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists around the globe expressed concern. In a letter to the editor of Nature evolutionary biologist Jae Choe at Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was backed up by colleagues across the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks.
Researchers are also concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign could 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 increase pressure for textbook revisions in other countries, particularly those with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly significant cultural context for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are part of a religious community 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 is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun and that heavenly blessings are achievable through the good works of one's.
All of this has created an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have found that students who have a religious background to be more hesitant to learn about evolution as compared to those who do not. The underlying causes are not evident. Students who have a religious background may be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, which makes them more vulnerable to creationists' influence. Another reason could be that students with religious beliefs are more likely to see evolution as an atheistic idea which could make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concern among the scientific community. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that more than 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong and that a belief in it would be contrary to their faith-based beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in certain states, many scientists feel that the best way to combat this inclination is not to engage it, but to inform the public on the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are responsible to teach their students science, which includes the theory of evolution. They also need to inform people about the process of science, and how scientific knowledge is collected and validated. They must also explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and modified. However, misperceptions 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, a hypothesis is rigorously tested and empirical evidence is used to confirm it. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principle.
The debate about the evolutionary theory provides a great opportunity to discuss the significance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential to realize that science cannot answer questions about the purpose or meaning of life but it is merely a means that allows living things to evolve and change.
Moreover, a well-rounded education should include exposure to all major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is important because many jobs and decisions require individuals understand the way science operates.
The vast majority scientists in the world agree that humans have changed over time. In a recent study that predicted the views of adults on the consensus on this topic people with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely believe that there is a broad consensus among scientists on the evolution of humans. People with a higher level of religious belief but less knowledge of science tend to be more divided. It is critical that educators insist on knowing the general consensus on this issue, so that people are able to making informed decisions regarding their health care, energy use, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to mainstream evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution focuses on the various ways that humans and other species learn from and with one another. Researchers in this field utilize elaborate models and tools that are adapted from the ones used by evolutionary theorists. they look back to human prehistory to find out the origins of our capacity for culture.
This approach also recognizes the distinction between traits that are cultural and biological. Cultural traits are acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are mostly inherited simultaneously (in sexual species, at fertilization). The acquisition of one characteristic can influence the development and growth of another.
In Korea For instance the introduction of Western fashion elements in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th century was the result of a complicated sequence of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothes.
Then, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a few of those trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified but this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite 에볼루션 , the country's economy has grown steadily in the past decade and is poised to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
The current administration is faced by a myriad of problems. The inability of the government to come up with an effective strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the most significant challenges. The crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the country's economy policies, particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports which might not be sustainable in the long run.
The crisis has shaken confidence of investors. As a result, the government needs to reconsider its strategy and come up with other ways to boost the domestic demand. To ensure a stable economic climate the government needs to reform its incentive, monitoring and discipline systems. This chapter provides a variety of scenarios of how the Korean economy might develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
A fundamental challenge for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of different levels of development and ages. For instance, teachers need to be sensitive to the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a space where students with both secular and religious views feel comfortable learning evolution. Teachers should also be able to identify common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers should also have quick access to the many resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from a variety of sectors to discuss best practices for teaching Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum designers. The convergence of various stakeholders led to the development of the common recommendations which will serve as the basis for any future actions.
A key recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be included in every science curriculum at every level. To accomplish this, the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in an integrated way across the life sciences with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. A new publication from NRC offers guidance for schools on how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Several studies have found that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution is linked to greater student knowledge and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to estimate the causality of teaching in the classroom because the curriculum for schools do not change on a regular basis and are dependent on the timing of state boards of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this limitation I employ an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the fixed effects of state and years and individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers regarding evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the notion that faculty who are more confident are less likely to be hesitant about evolution-related topics in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to use strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase the students' understanding of evolution.