Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia required a major review of the old system of business-government alliances and the management by the public of private risks. In Korea, this meant a change in the model of development.
In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has asked textbooks publishers to ignore calls for removing examples of evolution from high school science textbooks. 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 remove evidence of evolution in high school science textbooks. The move was a result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) an independent offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to clear biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims such materialism portrays negative images to students, making them abandon their faith.
Scientists from all over the world expressed concerns when the STR campaign made headlines. In a letter to the editor of Nature 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 set up an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the changes to the textbooks.
Some researchers are concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign will be spread to other regions of the world where the belief in the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea's culture is especially strong in the debate over evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are members of a religious community and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo - a philosophy based upon Confucian principles, which is a strong advocate of social harmony, individual self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings can be achieved by doing good deeds.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have revealed that students who have a religious background to be more uncomfortable learning about evolution than those who don't. However, the underlying causes of this phenomenon remain not clear. Students who are religious may be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, making them more susceptible to creationists influence. Another possible factor is that students with religious backgrounds are more likely to see evolution as an atheistic idea which could make them less at ease with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concerns among the scientific community. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong, and that a belief in it could be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in certain states, many scientists believe that the best way to stop this trend is not to actively engage in it, but to inform people about the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are responsible to instruct their students in science that includes the theory of evolution. They also need to inform the general public about the process of science, and how scientific knowledge is collected and confirmed. They must also explain that theories of science are frequently challenged and reformulated. However, misconceptions about the nature and purpose of research can fuel anti-evolution views.
Some people interpret the term "theory" as a guess or a guess. In science, however, a theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical evidence. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed is then a scientific principle.
The debate over evolutionary theory is a good occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is crucial to realize that science is not able to answer questions about the purpose or meaning of life, but only provides a mechanism by which living things can evolve and change.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because a lot of jobs and choices require people know the way science works.
The vast majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' opinions of the consensus around this issue found that those who had higher levels of education and science knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists on the subject of human evolution. People with more religious faith and less science-based knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is crucial that educators emphasize the importance of understanding this consensus, so that people can make informed decisions about energy use, health care and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to the mainstream evolutionary theory, cultural evolution studies the numerous ways that organisms, including humans, learn from and with each other. Researchers in this field employ explanatory tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to the prehistoric human to find the origins of culture.
This method also acknowledges that there are some differences between biological and cultural characteristics. While biological traits are generally acquired at once (in sexual species, at fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a protracted period of time. The acquisition of one characteristic can influence the development and growth of a different.
In Korea the emergence of Western style elements in the late nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of a complex sequence 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.
Then, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to change. By the end of World War II, Korea was once again united and was again under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the financial crisis of recent the economy of Korea has been growing steadily over the past decade. 에볼루션 룰렛 is anticipated to continue to grow in the future.
The current administration is faced with a variety of challenges. The government's inability to formulate a coherent plan to tackle the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the country's economy policies, mainly its overreliance on exports and foreign investment which might not be sustainable over the long term.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government has to reconsider its approach and find other ways to increase domestic demand. To ensure a stable financial climate the government needs to overhaul its incentive system, monitoring and discipline. This chapter offers a variety of scenarios for how the Korean economy might develop in a post-crisis world.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for teachers of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different stages of development and ages. Teachers should, for instance be aware of the religious diversity in their classrooms and create an environment where students of both secular and religious beliefs are comfortable. Teachers must be able to recognize common misconceptions about evolution and know how to correct them in the classroom. Teachers must also have easy access to the various resources available to teach evolution.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation had a key role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from different sectors to discuss the best methods for teaching Evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies, educational researchers, officials from government funding agencies, and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse groups led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will be the foundation for future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the study of evolution should be included in every science curriculum 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 good method to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC provides guidance to schools on how they can integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have shown that a more thorough presentation of evolution is linked to a greater understanding of students and belief in evolution. However the estimation of causal effects in the classroom is a challenge given that school curricula are not randomly assigned and change in time as a result of the predetermined dates of gubernatorial election and state board of education appointments. To overcome this limitation I use an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the fixed effects of state and years as well as individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers regarding evolutionary theory.
Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to teaching it. This is in line with the idea that faculty who are more confident are less likely to avoid evolution-related topics in the classroom. They may also be more likely to employ strategies such as a reconciliatory approach that is known to boost the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.