Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia caused a significant rethinking of the old model of government-business alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a shift in the model of development.
In a controversial move, the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests for removing examples of evolution in high school science textbooks. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A group of creationists in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to exclude evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the move. The STR claims that this kind of materialistic thinking creates a negative picture for students and leads to their eventual loss of faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists across the world expressed concern. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote a letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from all over the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are concerned that the STR will spread to other parts around the globe, including areas where creationism has been increasing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolutionist campaign putting pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly significant cultural context for the debate about evolution. 26 percent of the country's citizens belong to a religious denomination and the majority of them adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo - an ideology based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony, individual self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches that human beings are one with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings are possible through good works.
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 evolution than those without religion. The reasons behind this aren't evident. Students with a religious background may be less familiar with scientific theories, making them more susceptible to the creationists influence. Another reason could be that students with religious backgrounds are more likely to see evolution as a religious concept, which may make them less at ease with the idea.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concern among the scientific community. A survey in 2009 revealed that 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in certain states, many scientists believe that the best way to counter this movement is not to be actively involved in it, but rather to educate the public about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are responsible for teaching their students science including the theory of evolution. They must also educate the public on the research process and the way in which knowledge is validated. They should explain how scientific theories are often 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 theories are rigorously tested and verified with empirical data. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observations becomes a scientific principle.
The debate over evolution theory is a great opportunity to discuss both the importance of the scientific method and its limits. It is important to understand that science is not able to answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but instead offers a way for living things to evolve and adapt.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people hold and the decisions they make require a understanding of how science works.
The majority of scientists around the world believe that humans have evolved through time. A recent study that predicted adults' views of the consensus on this subject found that those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. People with a higher level of religious belief but less scientific knowledge tend to be more divided. 에볼루션 블랙잭 is essential that teachers emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus so that people can make informed decisions about the use of energy, health care and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the popular evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from one another. Researchers in this field use elaborate tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists and reach back to prehistoric times to determine the origins of culture.
This approach also recognizes that there are differences between the characteristics of culture and biological. While biological traits are generally acquired in one go (in sexual species, at fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. The acquisition of one characteristic can influence the growth and development of another.
In Korea the emergence of Western style elements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the result a complex 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.
After that, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began revert. At the close of World War II, Korea was once again united and again under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the country's economy has grown consistently over the past decade and is set to sustain its steady growth in the future.
The current government is confronted with many challenges. The inability of the government to develop an effective strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed the weaknesses of the country's economy policies, particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports, which may not be sustainable in the long run.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors, the government needs to review its economic strategy and find alternatives to boost domestic demand. It will also have to revamp the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are currently in place to ensure a stable financial environment. This chapter provides a number of scenarios for how the Korean economy could grow in a post-crisis environment.
4. Evolution and Education
The biggest challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of various age groups and developmental stages. Teachers, for instance, must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a setting where students with religious and secular views feel comfortable learning evolution. Teachers should be able to recognize common misconceptions about evolution and know how to correct them in the classroom. Finally, teachers must have access to a variety of resources that are available to teach evolution and be able to find them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from different sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching about Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational research, officials of government funding agencies as well as curriculum designers. The convergence of diverse stakeholders helped identify the common recommendations that will serve as the basis for any future actions.
A key recommendation is that the subject of evolution should be included in all science curricula at any level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with the developmentally appropriate, are a good way to achieve this goal. A new publication from NRC offers guidance to schools about how to incorporate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Several studies have found that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution can lead to greater student knowledge and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to determine the causal effects of evolution in the classroom, since the curriculum for schools do not change randomly and are affected by the timing of state board of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue I utilize a longitudinal data set which allows me to control for fixed state and year effects and the individual-level variation in teacher beliefs about evolution.
Another important finding is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the notion that faculty who are more confident are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom, and could be more likely to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.