Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of government-business alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea, that required a change in the development model.
In a controversial move South Korea's government has asked textbook publishers not to comply with calls to remove examples of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. This includes evidence of the evolution of horses and the Avian an 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 led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) which is an branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialistic views create a negative image for students and can lead to their eventual loss of faith.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists around the globe expressed alarm. 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 up by colleagues around the country, who formed an organization 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 parts of the world where the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement could push for textbook revisions in other countries, notably those with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans belong to of a religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, the philosophy based on Confucian principles, which emphasizes 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 divine blessings are possible by doing good deeds.
All of this has created an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. A number of studies have demonstrated that students who have a religious background tend to be more uncomfortable about learning evolution than those who are not religious. The causes behind this are not obvious. One reason is that students with religious backgrounds tend to be as knowledgeable about scientific theories and concepts, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another possible factor is that students who have religious beliefs are more likely to view evolution as a religious concept, which may make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times, the scientific community has been concerned about anti-evolution efforts in schools. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true 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 on the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists are required to instruct their students in science, including the theory of evolution. They also need to educate the public on the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is validated. They should also explain that theories of science are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misconceptions about the nature of scientific research often fuel anti-evolution beliefs.
please click for source interpret the term "theory" as a guess or a guess. In science, however an hypothesis is rigorously tested, and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that is able to withstand repeated testing and observation is an established scientific principle.
The debate over evolution theory is a great opportunity to discuss both the importance of scientific methodology and its limits. It is crucial that people understand that science cannot provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but instead allows living things to develop and evolve.
A well-rounded education should cover all the major scientific fields that include evolutionary biology. This is crucial because a lot of jobs and decisions require that individuals understand the way science works.
The majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have changed through time. A recent study that predicted adults' views of the consensus on this issue found that those with higher education levels and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a general consensus among scientists on the subject of human evolution. Those who have more religious beliefs and less knowledge of science are more likely to disapprove. It is essential that educators insist on knowing the general consensus on this issue, so that people have a solid foundation for making informed choices about their health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.
3. please click for source and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the popular evolutionary theory. It focuses on the ways that humans and other species learn from 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 find out the origins of our capacity to learn about culture.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits can be acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are typically acquired simultaneously (in sexual species at fertilization). The acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development and growth of a different.
In Korea for instance the introduction of Western fashion elements in the late 19th and early 20th century was a result of a complicated sequence of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing.
After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a few of those trends began to reverse. By the end World War II, Korea was united once more, this time under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the recent financial crisis Korea's economy has been growing steadily over the last decade. It is anticipated to continue to grow in the near future.
The current government is facing a variety of challenges. One of the biggest is its inability to develop a consistent policy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed shortcomings in the policies of the country particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports which could not last.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government has to reconsider its approach and find other ways to boost the domestic demand. To ensure a stable financial climate the government will need reform its incentive and monitoring systems, as well as discipline and monitoring. This chapter provides a variety of scenarios of how the Korean economy could grow in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators is to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. For example, teachers must be sensitive to the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a space that students who have religious and secular beliefs feel comfortable learning evolution. Teachers must also be able to identify common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have quick access to the various resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In this context the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of fields to discuss best practices for teaching evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as officials from government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of different participants helped to identify a set of shared recommendations which will serve as the basis for any future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the teaching of evolution should be included in all science curricula at any level. To achieve this, the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a seamless way across the life sciences using a sequence of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC provides guidance to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Several studies have found that a more thorough teaching of evolution can lead to more knowledge and belief in the concept of evolution. However the estimation of the causal impact of teaching in the classroom is challenging given that school curricula are not randomly assigned and change in time as a result of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and state board of education appointments. To overcome this limitation, i use an ongoing dataset that gives me control for the fixed effects of state and years as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.
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 discussing evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they might be more likely employ strategies like a reconciliatory approach known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al., 2020).