The Sage Advice On Evolution Korea From The Age Of Five
Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old model of government-business alliances and the management by the public of private risks. In our homepage meant an evolution of the development model.
In a controversial decision the South Korean government has asked textbook publishers to ignore requests for the removal of examples of evolution in high school science texts. This includes the evidence supporting the evolution of horses as well as the avian an ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A group of creationists in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the move. The STR claims that such materialistic thinking creates a negative picture for students and can lead to their eventual loss of faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists around the world reacted with alarm. In a letter addressed 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. His colleagues backed him from across the country who formed a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are worried that the STR could expand to other parts of the globe, where creationism is growing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution movement putting more pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the evolution debate. 26 percent of South Koreans belong to of a religious group with the majority of them practicing 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 belief system that teaches that humans are one with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings can be obtained through good works.
All of this has provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Multiple studies have shown students who have religious backgrounds to be more hesitant to learn about evolution than those who do not. The underlying causes of this phenomenon are not known. Students who have a religious background might be less familiar with the theories of science, making them more susceptible to creationists' influence. Another reason could be that students who have religious backgrounds tend to view evolution as an atheistic concept, which may make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concerns among the scientific community. A study conducted in 2009 found that more than 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true, and that a belief in it would conflict with their faith-based beliefs. Many scientists believe that despite the success of creationism, the best way to combat this movement is to educate the public about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are accountable to teach their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They must also inform people about the science process and how knowledge from science is collected and confirmed. They must explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and changed. However, misconceptions about the nature and purpose of research can fuel anti-evolution views.
Many people mistake the term "theory" as a hunch, or a guess. In science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly and empirical evidence is used to verify it. A theory that is tested and observed repeatedly becomes a scientific principal.
The debate over the evolutionary theory provides a great opportunity to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential to realize that science cannot answer questions regarding the purpose or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism that allows living things to evolve and change.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is particularly important because the jobs people are employed in and the decisions they make require knowledge of how science works.
The vast majority of scientists around world agree that humans have changed over time. A recent study predicting adults' view of the consensus on this subject found that those with higher levels of education and knowledge of science were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less knowledge of science tend to disagree more. It is essential that educators emphasize the importance of understanding the consensus on this issue to ensure 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 cousin to the popular evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution explores the many ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and with each other. Researchers in this field use explanatory tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to prehistoric times to determine the origins of culture.
This approach also recognizes the difference between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are typically inherited all at once (in sexual species, at fertilization) however, cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. This means that the acquisition of one cultural trait can influence the development of another.
In Korea for instance the emergence of Western fashion elements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the result of a complex series of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
When Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began change. At the close of World War II, Korea had once again unified, this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Read Significantly more , Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the country's economy has been growing steadily over the past decade and is poised to sustain its steady growth in the future.
The current government faces numerous challenges. One of the biggest is its inability to develop an effective strategy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has revealed the 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 financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government has to rethink its strategy and find ways to increase domestic demand. To ensure a stable and stable financial environment, the government will have reform its incentive and monitoring systems, as well as discipline and monitoring. This chapter provides a variety of scenarios of how the Korean economy could grow after the crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
One of the biggest challenges for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students at various levels of development and ages. Teachers should, for instance be mindful of the diversity of religions within their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students of both religious and secular beliefs are comfortable. Additionally, teachers must be aware of common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Teachers should also have quick access to the various 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 best methods for teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as government funding agency officials, and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the foundation for future actions.
A key recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum at every level. To accomplish this the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in a seamless manner across all sciences using a sequence of concepts that are developmental appropriate. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC offers guidance to schools on how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
A number of studies have demonstrated that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution is linked to greater student knowledge and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify the causality of teaching in the classroom, since the curriculum for schools do not change randomly and are dependent on the timing of the state board of education and gubernatorial elections. To overcome this problem I use a longitudinal dataset that allows me control for state and years fixed effects as well as individual-level differences in the beliefs of teachers regarding evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the notion that more experienced faculty are less likely to be hesitant about teaching about evolution in the classroom, and could be more likely to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method which is used to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.