The Worst Advice We've Heard About Evolution Korea
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Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that hit Asia caused a major review of the old system of government and business alliances, as well the public management of 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 eliminate examples of evolution from high school science books. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses and the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has convinced 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 move. The STR claims that such materialistic thinking creates a negative picture for students, and could lead to their eventual denial of faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists across the world reacted with worry. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was supported by colleagues around the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.
Some scientists are also worried about the possibility that the STR campaign could spread to other regions of the world, where the spread of creationism is increasing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the debate on evolution. Twenty-six percent of the country's residents belong to an organized religion, and most adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, an ideology based on Confucian principles that 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 can be derived by doing good deeds.
All of this has created a fertile field. Numerous studies have found that students who have religious backgrounds to be more hesitant to learn about evolution than those who don't. The underlying causes are not obvious. One reason is that students with religious backgrounds tend to be as well-versed in scientific theories and concepts which makes them more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students who have 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 times, the scientific community has been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A study conducted in 2009 found that over 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true and that a belief in it would conflict with their convictions about religion. Many scientists believe that, despite the fact that creationism has been successful the best way to counter this belief is to educate the public on the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are required to teach their students about science, including the theory of evolution. They also need to inform people about the process of science and how knowledge from science is collected and verified. They should also clarify that scientific theories are often challenged and re-examined. However, misconceptions about nature and purpose of scientific research can lead to a negative view of evolution.
For instance, some people may confuse the word "theory" with the common meaning of the word - a guess or a guess. In the field of science, however, a hypothesis is rigorously tested, and empirical data is used to verify it. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principle.
The debate over evolutionary theory is a good opportunity to discuss the significance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important for people to understand that science is not able to answer questions regarding the purpose or meaning of life it only serves as a mechanism that allows living things to develop and adapt.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people have and the choices they make require knowledge of how science works.
The majority of scientists around world accept that humans have changed over time. In a study that predicted the views of adults on the consensus on this topic, those with higher levels education and science knowledge were found to be more likely to believe there is a wide consensus among scientists on human evolution. The people who have more religious beliefs but less knowledge of science tend to disagree more. It is important that educators stress the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus, to enable people to make informed decisions regarding the use of energy, health care and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close 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 tools and models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to human prehistory to determine the origins of culture.
This approach also acknowledges that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. While biological traits are generally acquired in one go (in sexual species, at fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. As a result, the emergence of one cultural characteristic can affect the development of another.
In Korea, the adoption of Western styles in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result an intricate sequence of events. One of the most important 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 few of those trends began to revert. By the end World War II, Korea was once again united, this time under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown steadily in the last decade and is set to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
However, the current government has many challenges to face. One of the most significant is its inability to develop a coherent policy to address the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed shortcomings of the country's economic policies, mainly its overreliance on exports and foreign investment, which may 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 ways to increase domestic demand. It must also overhaul the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems in place to guarantee a stable financial environment. This chapter presents several scenarios for how the Korean economy could develop in a post-crisis world.
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. Teachers must, for example be mindful of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create an environment where students of both secular and religious beliefs are at ease. Additionally, teachers must be aware of the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with them in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers should be able to access a range of resources to teach evolution and be able to find them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss best practices for teaching Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum designers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders led to the development of a set of shared recommendations which will serve as the foundation for future actions.
A key recommendation is that the subject of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum at every level. To achieve this goal, the National Science here Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in an integrated manner across all sciences, with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. A new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how they can integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more comprehensive presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in the existence of evolution. It is difficult to estimate causal effects in the classroom, since school curricula don't change randomly and are affected by the timing of state boards of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this problem, i use a longitudinal dataset that allows me to control the effects of years and states fixed as well as individual-level differences in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching about evolution report having fewer intrapersonal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the notion that more confident faculty are less likely to avoid evolution-related topics in the classroom, and may be more inclined to employ strategies such as the reconciliatory method which is used to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.