Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that hit Asia required a major review of the old system of business-government alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea, that required a change in the development model.
In a controversial decision, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers not to comply with calls to eliminate examples of evolution from high school science books. This includes the evidence supporting the evolution of horses as well as the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A group of creationists in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an offshoot of 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 hit the news, scientists from all over the globe expressed alarm. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in a letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues across the country, who set up a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.
Some scientists are worried that the STR will spread to other parts around the globe, where the belief in creationism has been on the rise. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolutionist movement will increase pressure for textbook revisions in other countries, notably those with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly significant cultural context for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of the nation's citizens belong to an organized religion, and most practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also follow Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles, which is a strong advocate of 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 through the good works of one's.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. A number of studies have demonstrated that students with religion-based backgrounds tend to feel more uncomfortable when learning about evolution than those who are not religious. The underlying causes are not obvious. One explanation is that students who have religious beliefs tend to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students with a religious background are more likely to view evolution as an atheistic idea, which may make them less at ease with the idea.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent times scientists have been concerned about anti-evolution efforts in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that despite the popularity of creationism the best way to counter this belief is to educate the public on the evidence for evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to instruct their students in science, including the theory of evolution. They must also inform the public about the science process and how knowledge from science is gathered and verified. They must also explain that scientific theories are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misperceptions about the nature of scientific research often create anti-evolution beliefs.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a hunch, or a guess. In the field of science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly, and empirical data is used to verify it. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principle.
The debate about evolution theory is an excellent occasion to discuss both the importance of the scientific method and its limits. It is important to be aware that science cannot answer questions about life's purpose or meaning, but rather offers a way for living things to develop and change.
Furthermore, a comprehensive education should cover the vast majority of scientific fields that include evolutionary biology. This is especially important since the jobs that people have and the decisions they make require knowledge of how science works.
The vast majority of scientists across the world accept that humans have changed over time. A recent study predicting adults' opinions of the consensus on this issue found that those with higher education levels and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe there is a general consensus between scientists regarding human evolution. The people who have more religious beliefs but less knowledge of science tend to be more divided. It is critical that educators insist on the importance of knowing the consensus on this issue, so that people have a solid foundation for making informed decisions about their health care, energy use, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to the popular evolutionary theory, cultural evolution explores the many ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and with each other. Researchers in this field utilize explanation models and tools that are adapted from those employed by evolutionary theorists, and they reach back into human prehistory to determine the origins of our capacity for cultural understanding.
This approach also acknowledges the differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits are acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are typically acquired at the same time (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). The acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the growth and development of another.
In Korea, for example the introduction of Western fashion elements in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries was the 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.
After that, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, some of those trends began to revert. At the close of World War II, Korea was united once more and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the financial crisis of recent the economy of Korea has been growing at a steady pace over the last decade. It is expected to keep this trend going in the future.
The current administration is faced with a variety of challenges. The government's inability to formulate an effective strategy to tackle the current economic crisis is one the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economy policies, mainly its overreliance on exports and foreign investment, which may not be sustainable over the long term.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government must reconsider its strategy and come up with ways to increase domestic demand. It will also have to overhaul the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems that are currently in place to create an environment that is stable for the financial sector. This chapter offers a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in the post-crisis period.
4. Evolution and Education
One of the biggest challenges for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in ways that are appropriate for students of various age groups and developmental stages. Teachers, for instance, must be aware of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create an environment that students who have religious and secular views are comfortable with learning about evolution. 에볼루션 슬롯게임 Evolution must be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have access to a range of resources that are available to teach evolution and be able locate them quickly.
In this regard the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of disciplines to discuss best methods for teaching about evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies, educational researchers, officials of government funding agencies, and curriculum developers. The convergence of various participants helped to identify a set of shared recommendations that will serve as the basis for any future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the subject of evolution should be included in all science curricula at any level. National Science Education Standards (NRC), which call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with a progression that is developmentally appropriate, are one method to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidance to schools on how they can integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more thorough presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in the existence of evolution. However the estimation of the causal effect of evolution in the classroom is challenging given that school curricula are not randomly assigned and change over time as a result of the predetermined dates of gubernatorial election and state board of education appointments. To overcome this problem I employ an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the fixed effects of state and years and individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Another important result is that teachers who feel more comfortable teaching about evolution report having fewer personal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the idea that faculty who are more confident are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom, and could be more inclined to use strategies like a reconciliatory method which is used to increase the students' understanding of evolution.