How To Resolve Issues With Evolution Korea
Evolution Korea The economic crisis which swept Asia prompted a major reappraisal the traditional system of government, business alliances, as well as public management of risk. In Korea this meant a change in the development paradigm. In a controversial move, the South Korean government has asked publishers of textbooks to ignore calls for the removal of examples of evolution from high school science texts. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses and the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx. 1. Evolution and Religion A creationist group in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The move was a result of a campaign led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology textbooks of “atheist materialism.” The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, making them abandon their faith. When the STR's campaign hit the news, scientists around the globe expressed concern. 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 around the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks. Some scientists are also concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign will be spread to other regions of the world where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement could push for textbook revisions in other countries, particularly those with strong Christian and Muslim populations. South Korea's culture is particularly strong for the evolution debate. 26 percent of the country's residents belong to one of the religious groups and the majority adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Additionally, a large portion of Koreans adhere to the Ch'ondogyo philosophy, which is based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony among people and personal self-cultivation. 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 derived through the good deeds of a person. All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have revealed that students with religious backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable about learning about evolution than students who do not have a religious background. However, the root causes of this phenomenon remain not clear. One explanation is that students with religious backgrounds tend to be as knowledgeable about scientific concepts and theories and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another factor could be that those with religious backgrounds might view evolution as an idea that is agnostic, making them feel uncomfortable. 2. Evolution and Science In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have caused concern in the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was a myth and that it would be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in some states, many scientists feel that the best way to counter this movement is not to engage with it, but rather educate people about the evidence supporting evolution. Scientists are accountable to teach their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They should also educate the public on the research process and how knowledge is verified. They should also explain that theories of science are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misperceptions regarding the nature of scientific research often fuel anti-evolution beliefs. For example, some people confuse the term “theory” with the everyday meaning of the word, which is a hunch or guess. In science, however theories are rigorously tested and verified with evidence. A theory that is able to withstand repeated testing and observation is an established scientific principle. The debate on evolution theory is an excellent chance to discuss the importance of scientific method and its limits. It is essential to understand that science is not able to answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but instead provides a mechanism for living things to evolve and evolve. A well-rounded education must include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is particularly important because the jobs that people hold and the choices they make require understanding of how science functions. The majority of scientists around the world agree that humans have changed over time. In a study that predicted adults' views of the consensus on this topic, those with higher levels education and science knowledge were found to be more likely believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists regarding human evolution. The people with more religious beliefs and less science knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is important that educators emphasize the importance of understanding this consensus, so that people can make informed choices about health care, energy usage and other issues of policy. 3. Evolution and Culture Cultural evolution is a close relative of the popular evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this area use elaborate tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to the prehistoric human to find the origins of culture. This approach also recognizes the differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits can be acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are mostly inherited simultaneously (in sexual species at fertilization). In the end, the emergence of one cultural trait can influence the development of another. In Korea, the adoption of Western style elements in the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century was the result of an intricate sequence 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 left Korea in the 1930s, some of these changes began to reverse. By the end World War II, Korea was once more united, this time under Choson dynasty rule. 에볼루션 룰렛 , Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the financial crisis of recent, Korea's economy has been growing consistently over the last decade. It is expected to continue this growth in the near future. The current government is faced by a myriad of problems. One of the most significant is its inability to develop an effective strategy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed the weaknesses of the country's policies particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports, which may not last. Since the financial crisis has destroyed the confidence of investors, the government needs to reconsider its economic strategy and find alternative ways to boost domestic demand. To ensure a stable economic climate the government needs to overhaul its incentive and monitoring systems, as well as discipline and monitoring. This chapter provides a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in a post-crisis world. 4. Evolution and Education A fundamental challenge for evolution educators is how to present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of different age groups and developmental stages. For example, teachers must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a setting that students who have secular and religious views are comfortable with learning about evolution. Teachers must also be able recognize common misconceptions about evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have access to a variety of resources for teaching evolution and be able locate them quickly. In this context the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of disciplines to discuss most effective methods of teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders helped identify a set of shared recommendations that will serve as the basis for future actions. It is important to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this goal it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in an integrated manner across all sciences, with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. A new publication from NRC provides guidance 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 greater student knowledge and belief in evolution. However, estimating causal effects in the classroom is a challenge given that school curricula are not assigned randomly and evolve in time as a result of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and state board of education appointments. To overcome this problem I employ an ongoing data set that lets me control for year and state fixed effects and the individual-level variation in teacher beliefs about evolution. Another important result is that teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to teaching it. This is in line with the hypothesis that faculty who are more confident are less likely to avoid questions about evolution in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to employ strategies such as a reconciliatory approach that is known to boost the students' understanding of evolution.