The Most Hilarious Complaints 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 risk. In Korea this meant a change in the development paradigm.
In a controversial move, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore calls to eliminate examples of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses and the bird an 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 move was a result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) an independent offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to clear textbooks on biology of "atheist materialism." The STR claims such materialism portrays an image of negativity for students, causing them to lose faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists around the world expressed worry. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in an email to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was supported by colleagues across the country, who set up an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.
Some researchers are worried that the STR campaign could spread to other parts of the world where the belief in the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement will intensify pressure for revisions to textbooks in other countries, especially those with large Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of the country's citizens belong to an organized religion, and most adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to the philosophy of Ch'ondogyo. It is founded on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony among people and personal self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a belief system that teaches that humans are in a relationship with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings can be obtained through good works.
All of this has created a fertile field. Multiple studies have shown students who have religious backgrounds to be more hesitant to learn about evolution than those who do not. The reasons behind this aren't obvious. Students who have a religious background might be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, which makes them more vulnerable to creationists' influence. Another possibility is that students with religious beliefs are more likely to see evolution as a religious concept, which may make them less comfortable with the idea.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have caused concern among the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, a lot of scientists believe that the best method to stop this trend is not to engage it, but to inform the public about the evidence supporting evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to teach their students about science including the theory of evolution. They must also inform the public about the process of scientific research and how knowledge is verified. They should also clarify that scientific theories are often challenged and reformulated. However, misinformation about the nature and purpose of research can lead to anti-evolution beliefs.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a hunch or guess. In the realm of science, a theory is rigorously tested and verified through evidence. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed 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 important for people to understand that science is unable to answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life but it is merely a means through which living organisms can grow and change.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs people are employed in and the decisions they make require knowledge of how science works.
The vast majority of scientists around the world believe 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 of education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely believe that there is wide agreement among scientists regarding human evolution. The people with more religious beliefs and less science knowledge are more likely to disagree. It is critical that educators insist on knowing the general consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals have a solid foundation for making informed choices about their health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close cousin to mainstream evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution studies the numerous ways that humans and other species learn from and with one another. Researchers in this field use explanatory models and investigative tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they reach back into human prehistory to find out the genesis of our capacity for culture.
This approach also recognizes the difference between traits that are cultural and biological. While biological traits are typically acquired in one go (in sexual species, at fertilization) but 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 the introduction of Western style elements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the result of an intricate sequence of events. One of here the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea was once again united, this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown steadily in the last decade and is poised to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
The current government faces numerous challenges. The inability of the government to come up with an effective strategy to address the current economic crisis is one the most significant challenges. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economic policies, particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports which might not be sustainable in the long run.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government must rethink its strategy and find other ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to revamp the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems that are in place to guarantee an environment that is stable for the financial sector. This chapter provides a number of scenarios for how the Korean economy might develop post-crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
One of the biggest challenges for educators of evolution is how to present evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students at various age groups and developmental stages. For example, teachers must be sensitive to the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create an environment where students with religious and secular views feel comfortable in learning about evolution. Moreover, teachers need to recognize the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to address them in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers should be able to access a range of resources for teaching evolution and be able locate them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played a significant role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss the best methods of teaching Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum developers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders helped identify some common guidelines which will serve as the foundation for future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the study of evolution should be included in every science curriculum at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences, with a progression that is developmentally appropriate, are a good way to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC provides guidance to schools on how to integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more comprehensive presentation of evolution is linked to better understanding by students and belief in the concept of evolution. However the estimation of causal effects in the classroom is a challenge due to the fact that school curriculums are not assigned randomly and evolve over time as a result of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this limitation I use a longitudinal dataset that allows me control for the fixed effects of state and years and individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers regarding evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution also have fewer internal barriers. This is in line with the notion that more confident faculty are less likely to be hesitant about teaching about evolution in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to employ strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase undergraduate students' acceptance of evolution.