Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept across Asia prompted a major reappraisal the traditional system of government, business alliances, as well as public management of risks. In Korea, that meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial move, South Korea's government has asked textbook publishers to ignore calls 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 South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. This was the result of a campaign led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of textbooks on biology of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism paints an unhopeful picture for students, and could lead to their eventual loss of faith.
Scientists across the globe expressed concerns when the STR campaign gained attention. In a letter to the editor of Nature 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 all over the country who gathered into an organization called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign will spread to other regions of the world where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolutionist campaign putting pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the debate on evolution. Twenty-six percent of the country's citizens are members of an organized religion and the majority of them adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also follow Ch'ondogyo, an ideology based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings are achievable by doing good deeds.
All of this has made creationism a fertile field. A number of studies have demonstrated that students with religious backgrounds are more hesitant about learning about evolution than students who do not have a religious background. The underlying causes are not obvious. Students who are religious may be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, making them more susceptible to the creationists' influence. Another possible factor is that students with a religious background tend to view evolution as a religious concept, which may make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concern among the scientific community. A survey in 2009 revealed that 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was a myth and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Despite Read Significantly more of creationism in some states, a lot of scientists feel that the best way to counter this movement is not to engage it, but to inform people about the evidence for evolution.
Scientists have a duty to teach their students about science, including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the general public about the scientific process and how knowledge is collected and verified. They must explain how scientific theories are often challenged and revised. However, misinformation about the nature and purpose of research can fuel anti-evolution views.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a hunch, or a guess. In science, however, an hypothesis is rigorously tested and empirical evidence is used to verify it. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observations becomes an established scientific principle.
The debate about the theory of evolution is a wonderful chance to discuss the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is essential that people understand that science does not answer questions about life's purpose or meaning, but provides a mechanism for living things to evolve and adapt.
A comprehensive education should include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is essential because a variety of jobs and choices require people understand how science works.
The majority of scientists around world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' views of the consensus around this issue found that those with higher education levels and science knowledge were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement among scientists on the subject of human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less knowledge of science tend to be more divided. It is critical that educators insist on the importance of understanding the consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals are able to making informed choices about their health care, energy use and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close relative of mainstream evolutionary theory. It explores how humans and other organisms learn from each other. Researchers in this field use elaborate tools and investigative models derived from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to the prehistoric human to discover the origins of culture.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. While biological traits are largely inherited all at once (in sexual species, during fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. As a result, the acquisition of one trait may affect the development of another.
In Korea for instance 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 arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
Then, when our homepage departed Korea in the 1930s, a few of those trends began to revert. By the end World War II, Korea was united once more and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the economy of Korea has grown consistently over the last decade and is expected to continue its healthy growth in the near future.
The current administration is faced with a variety of challenges. The government's inability to formulate a coherent plan to address the current economic crisis is one the most significant challenges. The crisis has revealed shortcomings in the policies of the country and its reliance on exports and foreign investment, which may not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. This means that the government has to rethink its strategy and find ways to increase domestic demand. It will also have to revamp the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems currently in place to ensure a stable financial environment. This chapter presents several scenarios on how the Korean economy could develop in a post-crisis world.
4. Evolution and Education
A fundamental challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students at various ages and developmental stages. Teachers must, for example, be sensitive to the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a learning environment where students with both religious and secular beliefs are at ease. Teachers should be able to recognize common misconceptions about evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have quick access to the numerous resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In Read Significantly more , the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies as well as educational researchers, government funding agency officials and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse parties resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will form the basis for future action.
It is important to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this, the National Science 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 provides guidelines for schools on how to incorporate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have shown that a more thorough teaching of evolution can lead to higher levels of student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify causal effects in the classroom, since school curricula do not change randomly and are dependent on the timing of state board of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this problem, I use a longitudinal data set that allows me to control for state and year fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs regarding changes in the curriculum.
Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the hypothesis that more experienced faculty are less likely to be hesitant about evolution-related topics in the classroom, and may be more likely to employ strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.