Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia required a major review of the old system of business-government alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea this meant an evolution of 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 texts. These include the evidence for the evolution of horses and of the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has persuaded textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims that this kind of 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 across the world expressed concern. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe from Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. His colleagues backed him from around the country who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are concerned that the STR campaign could spread to other parts of the globe where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution movement putting more pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea's cultural background is particularly strong for the evolution debate. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to an organized religion, and most practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles, which emphasizes social harmony, individual self-cultivation, and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo believes that humans are one with Hanulnim the God of the Sun, and that heaven-bound blessings are possible by doing good deeds.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Multiple studies have shown students with a religious background to be more uncomfortable learning about evolution as compared to those who do not. However, the root causes of this phenomenon are unclear. One reason is that students with religious beliefs tend to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another possible factor is that students with religious beliefs tend to view evolution as an atheistic idea which could make them less at ease with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concerns within the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was wrong and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in some states, many scientists believe that the best strategy to combat this inclination is not to engage it, but rather to inform people about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are responsible to instruct their students in science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the science process, and how scientific knowledge is gathered and validated. They must explain how theories of science are frequently challenged and revised. However, misconceptions about nature and purpose of scientific research can lead to a negative view of evolution.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a hunch or guess. In the field of science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principal.
The debate about the evolutionary theory provides a great occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is crucial that people understand that science cannot provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but allows living things to grow and evolve.
Moreover, a well-rounded education must include exposure to all the major scientific fields that include evolutionary biology. This is important because many jobs and decisions require individuals understand the way science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world agree that humans have evolved over time. In a study that predicted the views of adults on the consensus around this issue people with higher levels of education and science knowledge were found to be more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists about the evolution of humans. People with more religious faith and less science-based knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is crucial that teachers emphasize the importance of knowing the consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid basis for making informed decisions about their health care, energy use, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close cousin of the mainstream evolutionary theory. It focuses on how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this field use explanatory tools and investigative models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to prehistoric times to find the origins of culture.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between the characteristics of culture and biological. Cultural traits can be acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are typically acquired simultaneously (in sexual species, at fertilization). The acquisition of one characteristic can influence the development and growth of a different.
In Korea, for example the emergence of Western fashion elements in the late 19th and early 20th century was a result of a variety of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothes.
After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a few of those trends began to revert. By the end World War II, Korea was once more united and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown consistently over the last decade and is expected to sustain its steady growth in the near future.
However, the current government faces numerous challenges. One of the most significant is its inability to find a consistent policy to address the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the country's policies particularly its dependence on exports and foreign investment that may not last.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. This means that the government has to reconsider its approach and find other ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to overhaul the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems that are currently in place to ensure the stability of the financial system. This chapter presents several scenarios on how the Korean economy could develop in a post-crisis world.
4. Evolution and Education
One of the biggest challenges for evolution educators is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students at various levels of development and ages. Teachers must, for example, be sensitive to the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students from both religious and secular beliefs are comfortable. 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 to teach evolution.
In this context, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of fields to discuss most effective methods of teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse parties led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will serve as the basis for future action.
It is important to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this goal, the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in a unified manner across all sciences using a sequence of concepts that are developmental appropriate. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidance to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
에볼루션 룰렛 have found that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution is linked to greater student knowledge and belief in evolution. It is difficult to quantify causal effects in the classroom because the curriculum for schools do not change on a regular basis and are influenced by the timing of state board of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue I employ a longitudinal dataset that allows me control for state and years fixed effects and individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable teaching about evolution report having fewer personal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the idea that more confident faculty are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom, and could be more likely to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.