Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia caused a significant rethinking of the old model of government-business alliances and the management by the public of private risks. In Korea, that meant a shift in the development model.
In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has asked publishers of textbooks to ignore calls for the removal of examples of evolution from 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 pushed textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims such materialism portrays an image of negativity for students, making them be skeptical.
Scientists around the globe expressed concerns when the STR campaign made headlines. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in an email to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. His colleagues backed him from around the country who gathered into a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are concerned that the STR could spread to other parts around the world, 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 population.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the evolution debate. 26 percent of the country's citizens are members of an organized religion and the majority adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony among people and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun, and that divine blessings are achievable through the good works of one's.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. A number of studies have demonstrated that students who have religious backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable when learning about evolution than those who are not religious. The underlying causes are not clear. One possible explanation is that students who have a religious background tend not to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students with a religious background may view evolution as an idea that is not a religion, which makes them feel uncomfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concerns within the scientific community. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40 percent 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 method to combat this movement is to educate the public on the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists are accountable for teaching their students science including the theory of evolution. They must also inform the public about the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is confirmed. They must explain how scientific theories are often challenged and modified. However, misunderstandings regarding the nature of scientific research frequently cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
For instance, some people may confuse the word "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a guess or guess. However, in science, a theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical data. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly is then a scientific principle.
The debate over evolution theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss both the importance of scientific methodology and its limits. It is important to understand that science cannot provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but instead allows living things to evolve and evolve.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to all the major scientific fields, including evolutionary biology. This is especially important since the jobs that people hold and the decisions they make require a understanding of how science functions.
The vast majority of scientists around the world believe that humans have evolved through time. In a recent study, which predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus on this subject, those with higher levels education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. The people with more religious beliefs and have less science knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is essential that teachers emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus so that people can make informed decisions regarding health care, energy usage and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the mainstream evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this field employ explanatory models and investigative tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they reach back into human prehistory to find out the genesis of our capacity to learn about culture.
This method also acknowledges that there are differences between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually while biological traits are usually acquired at the same time (in sexual species at fertilization). As a result, the emergence of one cultural trait may affect the development of another.
In Korea For instance, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the late 19th century and the early 20th centuries was the result of a complicated sequence of events. you can try this out of the most important was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a portion of these trends began reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea was once more 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 Korea's economy has been growing at a steady pace over the past decade. It is anticipated to continue to grow in the coming years.
The current government is faced by a myriad of problems. One of the most significant is its inability to find an effective strategy to deal with the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's policies particularly its dependence on exports and foreign investment that may not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors, the government must rethink its economic strategy and find alternatives to boost domestic demand. It must also overhaul the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems currently in place to create a stable financial environment. This chapter offers a variety of scenarios on how the Korean economy could grow in a post-crisis environment.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators is how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different stages of development and ages. For example, teachers must be sensitive to the religious diversity in their classrooms and create an environment where students with secular and religious views are comfortable with learning about evolution. Moreover, teachers need to be aware of the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to confront these in their classrooms. Finally, teachers must be able to access a range of resources that are available to teach evolution and be able to locate them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation had a key role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from a variety of sectors to discuss the best methods for teaching Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum designers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders helped identify the common recommendations which will serve as the basis for any future actions.
One important recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be incorporated in all science curricula at any level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) which require the integration of evolution across all life sciences with an educational progression that is developmental 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 the science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more complete presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in evolution. However, estimating the causal impact of teaching in the classroom is a challenge given that school curricula are not assigned randomly and evolve over time because of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this issue, I use an ongoing data set that allows me to account for fixed state and year effects and the individual-level variation in teacher beliefs about the evolution of their curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution also have fewer internal barriers. This is consistent with the idea that a more experienced faculty is less likely to avoid tackling evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they could be more likely to employ strategies, such as an approach to reconciliation that is known to increase undergraduate student acceptance of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).