Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that hit Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, as well as public management of risks. In Korea, this meant a shift in the model of development.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has asked publishers of textbooks to ignore calls for removing examples of evolution in science texts for high school students. These include the evidence for evolution of horses and of the avian ancestor 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 offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that wants to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR asserts that such materialism creates negative images to students, causing them to lose faith.
When the STR's campaign hit the news, scientists around the world expressed alarm. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. His colleagues backed him from all over the country who gathered into a group called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are worried that the STR will spread to other parts around the globe, where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement will intensify pressure for revisions to textbooks in other countries, particularly those with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea's cultural background is particularly strong in the evolution debate. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to one of the religious groups and the majority of them adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to the philosophy of Ch'ondogyo. It is founded 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 can be achieved through the good works of one's.
All of this has provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Several studies have shown that students with religious backgrounds are more hesitant about learning evolution than those who are not religious. The reasons behind this aren't evident. One possible explanation is that students with a religious background tend not to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories, which makes them more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students who have religious backgrounds may see evolution as a belief system that is atheistic, making them feel less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have raised concerns within the scientific community. 에볼루션 conducted in 2009 found that over 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true and that a belief in it would be contrary to their religious beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, many scientists believe that the best way to counter this movement is not to be actively involved in it, but rather to inform people about the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are accountable to instruct their students in science, which includes the theory of evolution. They also need to educate the public on the research process and the way in which knowledge is validated. They should also explain that scientific theories are often challenged and re-examined. However, misconceptions about the nature of research conducted by scientists often create anti-evolution beliefs.
For instance, many people confuse the term "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a hunch or guess. In science, however the theory is thoroughly tested and verified using empirical evidence. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principal.
The debate over the evolutionary theory provides a great opportunity to discuss the significance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to realize that science is unable to answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life but only provides a mechanism by which living things can develop and adapt.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is essential because a variety of jobs and decisions require that individuals understand the way science works.
The majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' views of the consensus around this issue found that those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. Those who have more religious beliefs and have less science knowledge are more likely to disagree. It is critical that educators emphasize the importance of knowing the general consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid basis for making informed decisions about their health care, energy use, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the mainstream evolutionary theory. It focuses on the ways that humans and other species learn from each other. Researchers in this area use explanation tools and models adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to human prehistory to find the earliest sources of culture.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits can be acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are typically acquired at the same time (in sexual species, at fertilization). The acquisition of one characteristic can influence the development and growth of a different.
In Korea For instance the introduction of Western fashion elements in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century was a result of a complicated sequence of events. One of the most important was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
When Japan quit Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to change. At the close of World War II, Korea was once again united and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown steadily in the past decade and is poised to sustain its steady growth in the near future.
However, the current government faces numerous challenges. One of the most serious is its inability to develop a coherent policy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed the weaknesses of the country's economy policies, mainly its overreliance on foreign investment and exports that may not be sustainable in the long run.
The crisis has shaken confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government needs to reconsider its strategy and come up with ways to increase domestic demand. To ensure a stable and stable financial environment the government will need to overhaul its incentive, monitoring and discipline systems. This chapter presents several scenarios for how the Korean economy might develop in a post-crisis world.
4. Evolution and Education
The biggest challenge for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in ways that are appropriate for students at various age groups and developmental stages. Teachers need to, for instance, be sensitive to the religious diversity in their classrooms and create a learning environment where students from both religious and secular beliefs feel comfortable. Moreover, teachers need to recognize the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers should have access to a range of resources available to teach evolution and be able to locate them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played a significant role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from a variety of sectors to discuss the best methods of teaching about Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the foundation for future actions.
A key recommendation is that the subject of evolution should be integrated in all science curricula at any level. To achieve this it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in a unified way across the life sciences using a sequence of concepts that are developmental appropriate. A new publication from NRC offers guidance to schools about how to incorporate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have shown that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution can lead to more knowledge and belief in the existence of evolution. However, estimating the causal effect of evolution in the classroom is a challenge because school curriculums are not randomly assigned and evolve over time because of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this issue I employ a longitudinal data set which allows me to control for year and state fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about changes in the curriculum.
Another significant finding is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having fewer personal barriers to teaching it. This is consistent with the notion that a faculty with more confidence is less likely to avoid evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they might be more likely employ strategies, such as the reconciliatory approach that has been proven to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).