Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of business-government alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a shift in the development model.
In a controversial move, the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests for removing examples of evolution from science texts for high school students. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses and the bird an ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A group of creationists in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution in high school science textbooks. This was the result of a campaign by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, leading them to be skeptical.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists from all over the world reacted with worry. In a letter 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 supported by colleagues across the country, who set up an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.
Researchers are concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign will spread to other regions of the world where the spread of creationism is increasing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution movement putting more pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans belong to of a religion with the majority of them practicing 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 teaches that human beings are one with Hanulnim the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings are possible through good works.
All of this has provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Several studies have shown that students who have religion-based backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable when learning about evolution than those who do not have a religious background. The reasons behind this aren't evident. One explanation is that students with a religious background tend not to be as knowledgeable about scientific theories and concepts and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another factor could be that those with religious backgrounds might view evolution as a belief system that is atheistic, making them feel less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times the scientific community has been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A 2009 survey revealed that more than 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true and that believing in it would conflict with their convictions about religion. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, many scientists feel that the best strategy to combat this inclination is not to be actively involved in with it, but rather educate the public on the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are accountable to instruct their students in science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the general public about the process of science, and how scientific knowledge is gathered and verified. They must also explain how scientific theories are often challenged and modified. However, misconceptions about the nature and purpose of research can lead to anti-evolution beliefs.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a guess, or a guess. In the field of science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly and empirical evidence is used to confirm it. A theory that survives repeated testing and observation is a scientific principle.
The debate over evolutionary theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is crucial for people to recognize that science is unable to answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism through which living organisms can develop and adapt.
Furthermore, a comprehensive education must include exposure to all major fields of science, including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people have and the decisions they make require a understanding of how science functions.
The majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have evolved over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' view of the consensus on this subject found that those who had higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. Those who have more religious beliefs and have less science-based knowledge are more likely to disapprove. It is important that educators emphasize the importance of understanding this consensus to enable people to make informed decisions regarding energy use, health care, and other policy matters.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to mainstream evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution focuses on the various ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and interact with one another. Researchers in this field use explanation models and tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they reach back into human prehistory to determine the genesis of our capacity for cultural understanding.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually, whereas biological traits are mostly inherited at the same time (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). As a result, the acquisition of one cultural trait can influence the development of another.
In Korea the emergence of Western style elements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result an intricate 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 quit Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began to reverse. By the end World War II, Korea was united once more, this time under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent financial crisis, Korea's economy has been growing consistently over the past decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the future.
The current administration is faced with a variety of challenges. One of the biggest is its inability to develop a consistent policy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has revealed weaknesses of the country's policies and its reliance on foreign investment and exports which could not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors, the government has to reconsider its economic strategy and come up with alternatives to increase domestic demand. It also needs to reform the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are currently in place to create the stability of the financial system. This chapter provides a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy could grow in a post-crisis environment.
4. Evolution and Education
A fundamental challenge for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students at various age groups and developmental stages. Teachers need to, for instance be aware of the diversity of religions within their classrooms and create an environment where students from both religious and secular beliefs are comfortable. Teachers should also be able to identify common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to correct them in the classroom. Teachers must also have easy access to the many resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of disciplines to discuss best practices for teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational researchers, government funding agency officials, and curriculum developers. The convergence of different participants helped to identify some common guidelines that will form the basis for any future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the teaching of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC), which call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with the developmentally appropriate, are a method to achieve this goal. Furthermore, 에볼루션 from the NRC offers guidance to schools on how they can integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
A number of studies have demonstrated that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution is associated with higher levels of student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. However it is difficult to determine the causal impact of teaching in the classroom is a challenge because school curriculums are not assigned randomly and change in time as a result of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this problem I employ an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the effects of years and states fixed as well as individual-level differences in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution have fewer internal barriers. This is in line with the hypothesis that more experienced faculty are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom. They may also be more likely to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method which is used to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.