Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that hit Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of government-business alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea, this meant a change in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution from high school science books. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses and of the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A creationist group from South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research that wants to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, making them abandon their faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists from all over the world expressed worry. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, complained in an email to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues around the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks.
Some scientists are also worried 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-evolutionist campaign putting pressure on textbook revisions, specifically in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea's cultural background is especially strong in the evolution debate. 26 percent of South Koreans are part of a religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Additionally, a large portion of Koreans adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo teaches the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings are possible by doing good deeds.
All of this has created a fertile ground. Several studies have shown that students with a religious background tend to be more uncomfortable when learning about evolution than those without religion. However, the underlying reasons for this phenomenon are not known. Students with a religious background might be less knowledgeable about the theories of science, making them more susceptible to the creationists' influence. Another possible factor is that students with a religious background are more likely to see evolution as an atheistic concept and therefore less at ease with the idea.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have raised concern within the scientific community. A survey in 2009 revealed that 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was wrong and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the success of creationism, the best way to combat this movement is to educate the public about the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are accountable to teach their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is verified. They must also explain that scientific theories are often challenged and re-examined. However, misperceptions regarding the nature of research conducted by scientists often create anti-evolution beliefs.
For instance, some people may confuse the word "theory" with the common meaning of the word - a hunch or guess. In the realm of science the theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical data. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principal.
The debate about the theory of evolution is a wonderful opportunity to discuss both the importance of scientific method and its limitations. It is crucial that people understand that science is not able to provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but provides a mechanism for living things to grow and adapt.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people have and the decisions they make require a knowledge of how science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world agree that humans have changed through time. In a study that predicted adults' views of the consensus around this issue those with higher levels of 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 with more religious beliefs and have less knowledge of science are more likely to disapprove. It is essential that educators insist on the importance of understanding the general consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals have a solid foundation for making informed choices about their health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to the popular evolutionary theory, cultural evolution explores the many ways that organisms, including humans, learn from and interact with each other. Researchers in this field use explanatory tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to prehistoric times to discover the origins of culture.
This method also acknowledges the difference between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually, whereas biological traits are mostly inherited simultaneously (in sexual species at fertilization). As a result, the acquisition of one trait can influence the development of another.
In Korea the introduction of Western styles in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result a complex sequence of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
Then, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a portion of these trends began to revert. By the end of World War II, Korea was once more united, 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 at a steady pace over the past decade. It is anticipated to continue to grow in the future.
무료 에볼루션 is faced with a variety of challenges. The inability of the government to come up with an effective strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the biggest challenges. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the country's policies particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports, which may not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government must rethink its strategy and find ways to increase domestic demand. It will also have to overhaul the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are in place to guarantee an environment that is stable for the financial sector. This chapter provides a variety of scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators is how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. Teachers, for instance, must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a setting where students with both religious and secular views feel comfortable learning evolution. Additionally, teachers must understand common misconceptions about evolution and how to address them in their classrooms. Teachers should also have quick access to the many resources to teach evolution.
In this context the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of disciplines to discuss most effective methods of teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will serve as the basis for future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the subject of evolution should be included in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with the developmentally appropriate, are a method to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC provides guidance to schools on how to integrate evolution into the science curriculum.
A number of studies have demonstrated that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution can lead to higher levels of student understanding and belief in evolution. However, estimating causal effects in the classroom is difficult because school curriculums are not assigned randomly and evolve in time as a result of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and state board of education appointments. To overcome this issue, I use a longitudinal data set which lets me control for year and state fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about evolution.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is consistent with the hypothesis that a more experienced faculty is less likely to avoid tackling evolution subjects in the classroom. They also might be more likely employ strategies, such as an approach to reconciliation that is known to improve the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).
