Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia caused a significant rethinking of the old model of government-business alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea, that meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has requested textbooks publishers to ignore calls to remove examples of evolution in high school science texts. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the bird ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A creationist group in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to omit evidence of evolution from high school science texts. This was the result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent affiliate of the Korea Association for Creation Research, which wants to rid biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates a negative image for students, making them abandon their faith.
Scientists around the globe expressed worry when the STR campaign made headlines. 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 around the country, who set up a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks.
Researchers are also concerned that the STR campaign could spread to other regions of the world, where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the debate on evolution. Twenty-six percent of the country's citizens belong to an organized religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also follow Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles that is a strong advocate of social harmony, individual self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches that human beings are one with Hanulnim the God of the Sun, and that heaven-bound blessings can be obtained through the good deeds of a person.
All of this has provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have revealed that students with a religious background to be more uncomfortable learning about evolution as compared to those who do not. The causes behind this are not clear. Students who are religious may be less familiar with the theories of science, making them more susceptible to creationists' influence. Another reason could be that students who have religious backgrounds might view evolution as an idea that is not a religion, which makes them feel less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times scientists have been concerned about anti-evolution efforts in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that over 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is a lie and that believing in it would conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, a lot of scientists feel that the best way to combat this inclination is not to actively engage in it, but to educate the public about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are required to instruct their students in science and the theory of evolution. They also need to inform people about the science process and how knowledge from science is collected and confirmed. They must explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and revised. However, misunderstandings regarding the nature of scientific research frequently cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a guess or guess. In science, however the theory is rigorously tested and verified through empirical evidence. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observations becomes an established scientific principle.
The debate about evolution theory is a great occasion to discuss both the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is essential for people to understand that science cannot answer questions about the purpose or meaning of life but it is merely a means through which living organisms can grow and change.
Furthermore, a comprehensive education must include exposure to all major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is particularly important because the jobs that people have and the decisions they make require a understanding of how science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study predicting adults' opinions of the consensus around this issue found that those who had higher levels of education and knowledge of science were more likely to believe that there is a consensus between scientists regarding human evolution. The people who have more religious beliefs but less scientific knowledge tend to be more divided. It is crucial that teachers insist on the importance of understanding the consensus on this issue, so that people have a solid foundation for making informed choices about their health care, energy usage, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close cousin of the popular evolutionary theory. It explores how humans and other organisms learn from each other. Researchers in this area use elaborate tools and investigative models derived from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to prehistoric times to find the origins of culture.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are generally acquired in one go (in sexual species, after fertilization) however, cultural traits can be acquired over a lengthy period of time. The acquisition of one characteristic can affect the development and growth of a different.
In Korea for instance, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century was the result of a complex series of events. One of the most important was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, some of those trends began to revert. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified and was again under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent financial crisis, Korea's economy has been growing steadily over the last decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the coming years.
The current government is confronted with many challenges. The government's inability to formulate an effective strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the country's policies, especially its over-reliance on foreign investment and exports which could not last.
As the crisis has shattered the confidence of investors, the government must rethink its economic strategy and find alternative ways to boost domestic demand. To ensure a stable economic climate the government will need to reform 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
A fundamental challenge for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of various ages and developmental stages. For instance, teachers need to be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a space where students with both secular and religious views are comfortable with learning about evolution. Teachers must also be aware of common misconceptions about evolution, and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Teachers must also have quick access to the numerous resources available to teach evolution.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies and educational research organizations, as well as officials of government funding agencies as well as curriculum designers. The convergence of various stakeholders led to the development of a set of shared recommendations that will form the basis for future actions.
One important recommendation is that the study of evolution should be incorporated in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with a progression that is developmentally appropriate, are a way to achieve this goal. A new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Several studies have found that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution is associated with higher levels of student understanding and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to estimate causal effects in the classroom, since the curriculum for schools do not change randomly and are dependent on the timing of the state board of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this problem I employ a longitudinal data set that lets me control for state and year fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about changes in the curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the idea that a faculty with more confidence is less likely to avoid evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, mouse click the following article could be more likely to use strategies such as the reconciliatory approach that has been proven to improve the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).