Nine Things That Your Parent Taught You About Evolution Korea

Evolution Korea

The economic crisis that swept across Asia caused a major review of the old system of government and business alliances, and public management of risks. In Korea this meant a shift in the development paradigm.

In a controversial move, the South Korean government has asked publishers of textbooks to ignore calls for removing examples of evolution from science texts for high school students. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the avian an ancestor Archaeopteryx.

1. Evolution and Religion

A South Korean creationist group has pushed textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. The decision was the result of a campaign run by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of textbooks on biology of “atheist materialism.” The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, causing them to abandon their faith.

Scientists around the globe expressed worry when the STR campaign was featured in the news. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature’s editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed up by colleagues around the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.

Some scientists are concerned that the STR campaign will be spread to other regions of the world, where 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, particularly those with large Christian and Muslim populations.

South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the debate on evolution. 26 percent of the nation’s citizens are members of an organized religion and the majority of them adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to the Ch’ondogyo philosophy, which is founded on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony among people and personal self-cultivation. Ch’ondogyo teaches the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings can be achieved by doing good deeds.

All of this has made creationism fertile field. Numerous studies have found that students with a religious background to be more hesitant to learn about evolution as compared to those who do not. However, the root reasons for this phenomenon are not known. One explanation is that students with a religious background tend not to be as well-versed in scientific theories and concepts, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students who have a religious background 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 times, the scientific community has been concerned about anti-evolution initiatives in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was a myth and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Despite the popularity of creationism in certain states, many scientists believe that the best strategy to stop this trend is not to actively engage in it, but to inform the public about the evidence for evolution.

Scientists are responsible to teach their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is confirmed. They must explain how theories of science are frequently challenged and changed. However, misinformation about the nature and purpose of scientific research can lead to anti-evolution beliefs.

For instance, many people are able to confuse the term “theory” with the common meaning of the word, which is a hunch or a guess. In science, however, a theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical data. A theory that survives repeated testing and observation is a scientific concept.

The debate about evolutionary theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to be aware that science does not provide answers to questions about life’s purpose or meaning, but provides a mechanism for living things to develop and adapt.

A comprehensive education should include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is essential because a variety of jobs and decisions require that people understand how science works.

The vast majority of scientists around the world believe that humans have changed over time. In a study that predicted adults’ views of the consensus on this topic those with higher levels of education and knowledge of science were found to be more likely to believe there is a wide consensus among scientists on human evolution. People with more religious beliefs and less science knowledge are more likely to disapprove. It is essential that teachers stress the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus, to enable people to make informed decisions about the use of energy, health care and other policy issues.

3. Evolution and Culture

A close cousin to mainstream evolutionary theory, the concept of cultural evolution focuses on the various ways humans–and other organisms–learn from and interact with one another. Researchers in this field use elaborate tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to human prehistory to find the origins of culture.

This approach also acknowledges that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually while biological traits are typically acquired simultaneously (in sexual species, at fertilization). As a result, the acquisition of one trait may affect the development of another.

In Korea, the adoption of Western styles in the latter part of the nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of a complex 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.

After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began to revert. 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 economic and political power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the economy of Korea has grown steadily in the past decade and is set to sustain its steady growth in the coming years.

However, the current administration faces numerous challenges. The inability of the government to come up with an effective strategy to deal with the current economic crisis is among the biggest obstacles. The crisis has revealed shortcomings in the policies of the country particularly its dependence on foreign investment and exports that may not last.

The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government needs to reconsider its approach and find other ways to boost the domestic demand. It must also reform the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems that are currently in place to create an environment that is stable for the financial sector. This chapter offers a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy could grow in the post-crisis era.

4. Evolution and Education

The challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. Teachers should, 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 recognize common misconceptions about evolution and be able to address them in the classroom. Finally, teachers must be able to access a range of resources to teach evolution and be able locate them quickly.

In this context, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational researchers, government funding agency officials as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse parties led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the basis for future actions.

One of the most important recommendations is that the subject of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with the developmentally appropriate, are one way to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC provides guidance for schools on how to integrate evolution into the science curriculum.

Multiple studies have proven that a more complete presentation of evolution is linked to greater student understanding and belief in evolution. It is difficult to quantify causal effects in the classroom because the curriculum for schools do not change randomly and are influenced by the timing of state board of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this problem I use a longitudinal data set that gives me control for state and years fixed effects as well as individual-level differences in the beliefs of teachers regarding evolutionary theory.

Another significant finding is that teachers who are more comfortable with teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to doing so. This is consistent with the hypothesis that a more confident faculty is less likely to avoid discussing evolution topics in the classroom. Additionally, they could be more likely to use strategies such as an approach to reconciliation that is known to increase undergraduate student acceptance of evolution (Harms and Reiss, 2019; Tolman et al. 2020).