Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of business-government alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a change in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has asked textbooks publishers to ignore calls to remove examples of evolution in high school science textbooks. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high school science texts. This was the result of a campaign led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) an independent offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to clear biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that this kind of materialism paints an unhopeful picture for students, and could lead to their eventual loss of faith.
Scientists around the globe expressed concerns when the STR campaign was featured in the news. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote a letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues across the country, who set up a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the changes to the textbooks.
Researchers are worried about the possibility that the STR campaign will be spread to other regions 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, specifically in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea's cultural background is especially strong in the debate on evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are members of a religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo - an ideology based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation, and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches 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 provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have revealed that students who have a religious background tend to be more uncomfortable about learning evolution than those who are not religious. The underlying causes are not evident. One reason 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 reason could be that students who have religious beliefs are more likely to view evolution as an atheistic idea and therefore less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have raised concern among the scientific community. A study conducted in 2009 found that over 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong and that believing in it could be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the popularity of creationism the best method to stop this movement is to educate the public about the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to teach their students about science, including the theory of evolution. They must also inform people about the science process and how knowledge is gathered and validated. They should also explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and changed. However, misperceptions about the nature of scientific research frequently cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
For instance, some people confuse the term "theory" with the common meaning of the word, which is a hunch or guess. In science, however, an hypothesis is rigorously tested, and empirical data is used to prove it. A theory that is able to withstand repeated testing and observation is a scientific concept.
The debate over evolutionary theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential that people understand that science cannot answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but provides a mechanism for living things to grow and evolve.
Furthermore, a comprehensive education should cover all the major scientific fields, including evolutionary biology. This is particularly important because the jobs that people hold and the decisions they make require understanding of how science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world believe that humans have evolved over time. In a recent study that predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus on this subject those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely to believe that there is a broad consensus among scientists on human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less knowledge of science tend to disagree more. It is essential that teachers insist on the importance of understanding this consensus to enable people to make informed decisions about energy use, health care, and other policy matters.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close cousin to the popular evolutionary theory, cultural evolution explores the many ways that organisms, including humans, learn from and with one another. Researchers in this field use explanation models and tools that are adapted from those employed by evolutionary theorists, and they look back to human prehistory to discover the genesis of our capacity to learn about culture.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are generally acquired at once (in sexual species, during fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a lengthy period of time. This means that the acquisition of one trait can influence the development of another.
In Korea the emergence of Western elements of style in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the result of 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 change. At the close of World War II, Korea had once again unified but this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
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 expected to sustain its steady growth in the future.
The current administration is faced by a myriad of problems. The inability of the government to develop a coherent strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economic policies, including its excessive dependence on foreign investment and exports which might not be sustainable over the long term.
As the crisis has shattered the confidence of investors, the government must reconsider its economic strategy and come up with alternatives to increase domestic demand. It also needs to overhaul the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems that are currently in place to ensure a stable financial environment. This chapter provides a variety of scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
The biggest challenge for educators of evolution is how to present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students at various age groups and developmental stages. For example, teachers must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create an environment where students with both religious and secular views feel comfortable in learning about evolution. Additionally, teachers must be aware of the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Teachers must also have easy access to the various resources to teach evolution.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of fields to discuss best methods for teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies and educational research organizations, as well as officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. 에볼루션 룰렛 of these diverse groups resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will form the foundation for future actions.
It is crucial to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC), which call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with a progression that is developmentally appropriate, are a good way to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more complete explanation of evolution can lead to greater student understanding and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to determine causal effects in the classroom since the curriculum for schools do not change on a regular basis and are dependent on the timing of state boards of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this limitation, I use a longitudinal data set that allows me to account for year and state fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs regarding changes in the curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have fewer internal barriers. This is in line with the hypothesis that more confident faculty are less likely to be hesitant about teaching about evolution in the classroom, and may be more inclined to employ strategies such as a reconciliatory approach which is used to increase the students' understanding of evolution.