Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that hit 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 development paradigm.
In a controversial move, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution from high school science books. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses and the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.
- Evolution and Religion
A creationist group from South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. This was the result of a campaign by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, causing them to abandon their faith.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists across the globe expressed concern. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. His colleagues backed him from around the country who formed a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are worried that the STR could be spread to other regions of the world, where creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolutionist movement will intensify pressure for revisions to textbooks in other countries, particularly those with strong Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the evolution debate. 26 percent of the country's citizens belong to one of the religious groups, and most practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo believes that humans are one with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings can be obtained by doing good deeds.
All of this has provided fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Multiple studies have shown students who have a religious background to be more hesitant to learn about evolution than those who do not. However, the root causes of this phenomenon remain not clear. One possible explanation is that students who have religious beliefs tend to be as well-versed in scientific concepts and theories and are therefore more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another factor could be that those with religious backgrounds might view evolution as a belief system that is not a religion, which makes them feel uncomfortable.
- Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have caused concern within the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed nearly 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was wrong and that it could conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the success of creationism in some states, a lot of scientists believe that the best way to stop this trend is not to actively engage in it, but to educate the public on the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists have a responsibility to instruct their students in science including the theory of evolution. They must also inform people about the process of science and how knowledge is gathered and confirmed. They should explain how scientific theories are often challenged and revised. However, misperceptions about the nature of scientific research frequently fuel anti-evolution beliefs.
For example, some people are able to confuse the term "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a guess or a guess. In the realm of science, a theory is thoroughly tested and verified using evidence. A theory that survives repeated testing and observations becomes a scientific principle.
The debate on evolution theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss both the importance of scientific method and its limits. It is crucial for people to recognize that science is not able to answer questions about the purpose or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism through which living organisms can develop and adapt.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is important because many jobs and decisions require people understand the way science operates.
The vast majority of scientists around world believe that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted adults' opinions of the consensus around this issue found that those with higher levels of education and science knowledge were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement among scientists about human evolution. People with more religious beliefs and less science knowledge are more likely to disagree. It is important that educators emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus, so that people can make informed choices about energy use, health care and other issues of policy.
- Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close cousin of mainstream evolutionary theory. It focuses on how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this field employ explanation tools and models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to prehistoric times to discover the earliest sources of culture.
This method also acknowledges the difference between cultural and biological traits. While biological traits are largely acquired at once (in sexual species, after fertilization) however, cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. This means that the acquisition of one trait may affect the development of another.
In Korea, for example, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th centuries was the result of a complicated sequence of events. One of the most important was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western clothing styles and hairstyles to Korean society.
When Japan quit Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began to reverse. At the end of World War II, Korea was united once more and again under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the economy of Korea has grown consistently over the last decade and is expected to continue its healthy growth in the near future.
The current government is confronted by a myriad of problems. The inability of the government to come up with a coherent strategy to tackle the current economic crisis is among the most significant challenges. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economic policies, Evolutionkr.Kr including its excessive dependence on exports and foreign investment which might not be sustainable over the long term.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. This means that the government must reconsider its strategy and come up with ways to increase domestic demand. It must also revamp the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems in place to guarantee a stable financial environment. This chapter outlines several scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop in the post-crisis period.
- Evolution and Education
A fundamental challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of different age groups and developmental stages. Teachers need to, for instance be mindful of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students with both religious and secular perspectives are comfortable. Teachers must also be able to identify common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have quick access to the many resources that can be used to teach evolution.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss 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 these diverse stakeholders helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will be the foundation for future actions.
It is important to include evolution in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC), which 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 the NRC provides guidelines to schools about how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have shown that a more comprehensive presentation of evolution leads to greater student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify the causal effects of evolution in the classroom because 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 employ an ongoing data set that lets me control for year and state fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs regarding evolution.
Another significant finding is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having fewer intrapersonal barriers to doing so. This is in line with the notion that more experienced faculty are less likely to avoid questions about evolution in the classroom. They may also be more likely to employ strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase undergraduate students' acceptance of evolution.