Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that hit Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of business-government alliances and the management by the public of private risks. In Korea this meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution in high school science texts. This includes the evidence supporting the evolution of horses as well as 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 move was a result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of textbooks on biology of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates an image of negativity for students, causing them to abandon their faith.
When the STR's campaign hit the news, scientists from all over the world expressed concern. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature, 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 around the country, who set up an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the changes to the textbooks.
Some scientists are concerned that the STR campaign will be spread to other regions of the world where the belief in the spread of creationism is increasing. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement could increase pressure for textbook revisions in other countries, especially those with strong Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the evolution debate. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to one of the religious groups and the majority adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Additionally, a large portion of Koreans adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy that is based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony and personal self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo teaches the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun, and that divine blessings are possible through good works.
All of this has made creationism a fertile ground. Numerous studies have revealed that students who have religious backgrounds to be more reluctant to learn about evolution as compared to those who do not. The underlying causes are not evident. One possible explanation is that students with religious beliefs tend to be as well-versed in scientific theories and concepts and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another possibility is that students with religious beliefs are more likely to see evolution as a religious concept and therefore less at ease with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concerns in the scientific community. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong, and that a belief in it could be in conflict with their faith-based beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in some states, a lot of scientists feel that the best method to counter this movement is not to actively engage in it, but to educate the public about the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists have a duty to instruct their students in science, including the theory of evolution. They must also inform the public about the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is confirmed. They must explain how theories of science are often challenged and modified. However, misconceptions about the nature of scientific research frequently fuel anti-evolution beliefs.
For instance, some people confuse the term "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a hunch or a guess. In science, however theories are thoroughly tested and verified using empirical evidence. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observation becomes a scientific principle.
The debate about the theory of evolution is a wonderful occasion to discuss both the importance of scientific method and its limits. It is crucial to be aware that science cannot provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but allows living things to develop and change.
Moreover, a well-rounded education must include exposure to all the major scientific fields, 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 accept that humans have evolved over time. In a study that predicted adults' views of the consensus around this issue, those with higher levels education and knowledge of science were found to be more likely believe that there is wide agreement among scientists about human evolution. The people who have more religious beliefs but less scientific knowledge tend to disagree more. It is essential that teachers stress the importance of understanding this consensus so that people can make informed decisions regarding the use of energy, health care and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to the popular evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution studies the numerous ways that organisms, including humans, learn from and interact with one another. Researchers in this field employ elaborate models and tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists. they reach back into human prehistory to discover the genesis of our capacity for cultural understanding.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits are acquired slowly while biological traits are typically acquired at the same time (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). This means that the acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development of another.
In Korea the emergence of Western styles in the latter part of the nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of a complex sequence of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
When Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a portion of these trends began to change. By the end World War II, Korea was once again united and again under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the country's economy has been growing steadily over the past decade and is poised to sustain its steady growth in the future.
The current government is confronted with a variety of challenges. One of the most significant is its inability to find a consistent policy to address the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economy policies, including its excessive dependence on foreign investment and exports, which may not be sustainable over the long term.
Since the financial crisis has destroyed the confidence of investors, the government must review its economic strategy and come up with alternative ways to boost domestic demand. It must also revamp the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems that are currently in place to create the stability of the financial system. This chapter presents several scenarios on how the Korean economy could grow in a post-crisis environment.
4. Evolution and Education
One of the biggest challenges for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students at various levels of development and ages. Teachers should, for instance be aware of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a learning environment where students of both religious and secular perspectives are comfortable. Teachers should also be able recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have easy access to the numerous resources to teach evolution.
In this regard the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of fields to discuss most effective methods of teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational researchers, officials of government funding agencies, and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse groups resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will serve as the basis for future actions.
One important recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum 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 method to achieve this goal. Additionally, 에볼루션 사이트 from the NRC offers guidance for schools on how to integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more complete explanation of evolution can lead to better understanding by students and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to determine the causality of teaching in the classroom because school curricula do not change on a regular basis and are affected by the timing of state board of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue I employ an ongoing dataset that gives me to control for the fixed effects of state and years as well as individual-level differences in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.
Another significant finding is that teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution report having less intrapersonal barriers to doing so. This is consistent with the notion that a more experienced faculty is less likely to avoid evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they may be more likely to employ strategies like an approach to reconciliation that is known to increase undergraduate student acceptance of evolution (Harms and Reiss 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).