Evolution Korea
The economic crisis which swept Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, and public management of risks. In Korea, that 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 textbooks. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A creationist group from South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The decision was the result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent affiliate of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to clear biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that this kind of materialistic thinking creates a negative picture for students and can lead to their eventual denial of faith.
Scientists across the globe expressed concerns when the STR campaign gained attention. In a letter to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe at 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 a petition against the textbook changes.
Some researchers are also worried about the possibility that the STR campaign will spread to other parts of the world where creationism is on the rise. 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's culture is especially strong in the debate on evolution. Twenty-six percent of the country's citizens are members of one of the religious groups, and most practice Christianity or Buddhism. Additionally, a large portion of Koreans adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy that is based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony among people and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo teaches that the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings can be achieved through good works.
All of this has created an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. Multiple studies have shown students with a religious background to be more hesitant to learn about evolution as compared to those who do not. However, the root reasons for this phenomenon are not known. One possible explanation is that students with a religious background tend not to be as familiar with scientific theories and concepts, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another possible factor is that students who have religious beliefs are more likely to see evolution as an atheistic idea which could make them less at ease with the idea.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, scientists have been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was wrong and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the success of creationism the best way to counter this belief is to educate the public on the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are required to teach their students about science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the research process and the way in which knowledge is validated. They must also clarify that scientific theories are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misperceptions about the nature of scientific research frequently fuel anti-evolution beliefs.
For example, some people confuse the term "theory" with the common meaning of the word - a guess or a guess. In the field of science, however, a hypothesis is rigorously tested and empirical data is used to prove it. A theory that survives repeated testing and observations becomes a scientific concept.
The debate over the theory of evolution is a wonderful opportunity to discuss both the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is important for people to recognize that science is not able to answer questions regarding the purpose or meaning of life but only provides a mechanism that allows living things to evolve and change.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is essential because a variety of jobs and choices require people know the way science operates.
The vast majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have evolved over time. In a study that predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus around this issue, those with higher levels education and science knowledge were found to be more likely to believe there is a wide consensus among scientists on the evolution of humans. The people who have more religious beliefs but less science knowledge tend to disagree more. It is important that educators emphasize the importance of understanding this consensus, to enable people to make informed choices about health care, energy usage and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close cousin to mainstream evolutionary theory, cultural evolution focuses on the various ways that humans and other species learn from and interact with each other. Researchers in this field use elaborate tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists and go back to the prehistoric human to determine the origins of culture.
This approach also acknowledges the distinction between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are largely acquired at once (in sexual species, at fertilization) however, cultural traits can be acquired over a protracted period of time. This means that the acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development of another.
In Korea For instance the introduction of Western fashion elements in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th centuries was the result of a variety of events. One of the most important was the arrival in Korea of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing.
When Japan quit Korea in the 1930s some of these trends began to change. By the end of World War II, Korea was once more united but this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the financial crisis of recent, Korea's economy has been growing consistently over the last decade. It is anticipated to continue to grow in the coming years.
The current government is faced with many challenges. The inability of the government to develop an effective strategy to tackle the current economic crisis is one of the biggest challenges. 에볼루션코리아 has exposed weaknesses of the country's economy policies, particularly its dependence 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 other ways to boost the domestic demand. To ensure a stable financial climate the government needs to reform its incentive system, monitoring and discipline. 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 educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in ways that are appropriate for students of different levels of development and ages. For instance, teachers need to be aware of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a space that students who have secular and religious views are comfortable with learning about evolution. Teachers must also be able recognize common misconceptions about evolution and be able to address them in the classroom. Additionally, teachers should have access to a variety of resources available for teaching evolution and be able locate them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational research, officials of government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse parties resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will serve as the basis for future action.
One important recommendation is that the study of evolution should be integrated in every science curriculum at every level. To achieve this goal the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in an integrated manner across all sciences, with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines for schools on how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have shown that a more thorough presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to determine the causal effects of evolution in the classroom since school curricula don't change randomly and are influenced by the timing of state board of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue, i use a longitudinal data set 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 important result is that teachers who feel more comfortable teaching evolution report having fewer personal barriers to teaching it. This is consistent with the hypothesis that a more confident faculty is less likely to avoid tackling evolution topics in the classroom and could be more likely to employ strategies, such as a reconciliatory approach known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al., 2020).