Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia required a major review of the old model of government-business alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has asked textbook publishers to ignore requests for the removal of examples of evolution from science texts for high school students. These include the evidence of the evolution of horses as well as 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 in high school science textbooks. 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 move. The STR claims that this kind of materialism paints an unhopeful picture for students, and could lead to their eventual denial of faith.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists around the globe expressed alarm. In a letter to the editor of Nature, evolutionary biologist Jae Choe of Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from all over the country, who formed a group called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are worried that the STR could expand to other parts of the globe, including areas where creationism has been increasing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of the nation's citizens belong to a religious denomination and the majority adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Additionally, a large portion of Koreans adhere to the philosophy of Ch'ondogyo. It is founded on Confucian principles which emphasizes harmony in society and personal self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings are achievable through good works.
All of this has made creationism a fertile field. Multiple studies have shown students with religious backgrounds to be more reluctant to learn about evolution than those who don't. The reasons behind this aren't clear. One reason is that students who have religious backgrounds tend to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another factor could be that students with a religious background may view evolution as a belief system that is not a religion, which makes them less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years scientists have been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that over 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong and that believing in it would conflict with their convictions about religion. Despite the popularity of creationism in some states, a lot of scientists believe that the best strategy to combat this inclination is not to engage with it, but rather inform the public on the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to educate their students about science including the theory of evolution. They also need to inform the public about the process of scientific research and how knowledge is verified. They should also explain how scientific theories are often challenged and modified. However, misconceptions about the nature of scientific research often cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
For instance, some people are able to confuse the term "theory" with the normal meaning of the word - a guess or a guess. In 바카라 에볼루션 , however a hypothesis is rigorously tested and empirical data is used to verify it. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principle.
The debate about evolutionary theory is a good opportunity to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to be aware that science does not provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but allows living things to evolve and evolve.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is particularly important because the jobs that people have and the decisions they make require understanding of how science works.
The vast majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have evolved through time. In a recent study, which predicted adults' views of the consensus around this issue those with higher levels of education and knowledge of science were found to be more likely believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists regarding the evolution of humans. Those who have more religious beliefs and less science-based knowledge are more likely to disapprove. It is essential that educators insist on the importance of knowing the consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals are able to making informed decisions about their health care, energy use and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close relative of the popular evolutionary theory. It explores the ways that humans and other species learn from one another. Researchers in this field use explanatory tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists and go back to the prehistoric human to determine the origins of culture.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between cultural and biological traits. While biological traits are largely acquired in one go (in sexual species, during fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a protracted period of time. The acquisition of one characteristic may affect the growth and development of a different.
In Korea, for example, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the 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 clothing.
After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a few of those trends began to change. By the end World War II, Korea was once more united but this time under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent financial crisis Korea's economy has been growing consistently over the last decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the near future.
The current government has many challenges to face. The government's inability to formulate an effective strategy to tackle the current economic crisis is one of the biggest challenges. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economy policies, mainly its overreliance on foreign investment and exports which might not be sustainable in the long run.
The crisis has shaken confidence of investors. As a result, the government has to reconsider its approach and find other ways to boost the domestic demand. It must also reform the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems that are currently in place to create the stability of the financial system. This chapter outlines several scenarios of how the Korean economy might develop in the post-crisis era.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for evolution educators lies in how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. Teachers should, for instance be mindful of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a learning environment where students with both religious and secular beliefs are comfortable. Moreover, teachers need to be aware of the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to confront them in their classrooms. Teachers must also have easy access to the many resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of sectors to discuss the most effective methods of teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational research, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will be the basis for future action.
One important recommendation is that the study of evolution should be included in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this goal it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a seamless manner across all sciences using a sequence of concepts that are developmental appropriate. A new publication from the NRC provides guidelines to schools about how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more thorough explanation of evolution can lead to greater student understanding and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to estimate the causal effects of evolution in the classroom, since school curricula don't change randomly and are dependent on the timing of state boards of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this limitation I employ a longitudinal dataset that allows me to control for the effects of years and states fixed and individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.
Another important finding is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having fewer personal barriers to doing so. This is consistent with the idea that a faculty with more confidence is less likely to avoid tackling evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they may be more likely to employ strategies, such as a reconciliatory approach known to increase undergraduate student acceptance of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al., 2020).