Evolution Korea

The economic crisis that swept Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old system of business-government 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 asked textbook publishers not to comply with calls to eliminate examples of evolution in science books for high school students. This includes evidence for evolution of horses and the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.

1. Evolution and Religion

A creationist group in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to omit evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims such materialism portrays a negative image for students, causing them to abandon their faith.

When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists across the globe expressed alarm. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe at Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was supported by colleagues around the country, who formed an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the changes to the textbooks.

Some scientists are worried that the STR will spread to other parts around the world, where the belief in creationism has been on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution movement putting more pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.

South Korea's cultural background is particularly strong for the debate over evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are part of a religious community and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to the philosophy of Ch'ondogyo. It is that is based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo teaches the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun, and that divine blessings can be achieved by doing good deeds.

All of this has made creationism fertile ground. Several studies have shown that students who have a religious background tend to feel more uncomfortable about learning about evolution than students who are not religious. The underlying causes of this phenomenon remain unclear. Students who are religious might be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, which makes them more susceptible to the creationists influence. Another factor could be that students with religious backgrounds may see evolution as a concept that is not a religion, which makes them feel less comfortable.

1. Evolution and Science

In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns 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 would conflict their religious beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, a lot of scientists feel that the best way to stop this trend is not to engage with it, but rather educate people about the evidence for evolution.

Scientists are responsible to teach their students science, which includes the theory of evolution. They must also inform the public about the research process and how knowledge is validated. They must explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and changed. However, misconceptions about the nature of research conducted by scientists often cause people to believe that evolution is not real.

For instance, some people may confuse the word "theory" with the common meaning of the word - a guess or guess. In science, however theories are thoroughly tested and verified using empirical data. A theory that has survived repeated testing and observations becomes a scientific principle.

The debate about the theory of evolution is a wonderful chance to discuss the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is essential to be aware that science is not able to answer questions about life's purpose or meaning, but allows living things to grow and evolve.

Furthermore, a comprehensive education must include exposure to the vast majority of scientific fields that include evolutionary biology. This is crucial because a lot of jobs and decisions require that people understand how science operates.

The majority of scientists around the world believe that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted adults' view of the consensus on 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. Those who have more religious beliefs and less science-based knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is essential that teachers insist on the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus, so that people can make informed decisions regarding health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.

1. Evolution and Culture

A close relative to mainstream evolutionary theory, cultural evolution studies the numerous ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and with one another. Researchers in this field employ explanation tools and models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to human prehistory to determine the earliest sources of culture.

This approach also acknowledges that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. While biological traits are typically acquired at once (in sexual species, during fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a lengthy period of time. As a result, the acquisition of one trait may affect the development of another.

In Korea for instance the introduction 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 in Korea of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing.

When Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, some of those trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea was once more united but 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 consistently over the past decade and is poised to continue its healthy growth in the coming years.

However, the current government is facing a variety of challenges. The inability of the government to come up with an effective strategy to address the current economic crisis is one the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the country's policies particularly its dependence on exports and foreign investment, which may not last.

As the crisis has shattered the confidence of investors, the government has to reconsider its economic strategy and look for alternative ways to boost domestic demand. To ensure a stable economic climate, the government will have to reform its incentive system, monitoring and discipline. This chapter offers a variety of scenarios on how the Korean economy could develop in a post-crisis world.

1. Evolution and Education

The biggest challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students of different levels of development and ages. Teachers need to, for instance be mindful of the diversity of religions in their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students from both secular and religious beliefs are at ease. Teachers should be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and be able to correct them in the classroom. Teachers must also have quick access to the various resources available to teach evolution.

In this context the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as officials of government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse parties resulted in a consensus set of recommendations that will be the foundation for future actions.

One important recommendation is that the study of evolution should be incorporated in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a unified way across the life sciences, with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how to integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.

A number of studies have demonstrated that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution is associated with greater student knowledge and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to estimate the causality of teaching in the classroom since school curricula do not change in a random manner and are influenced by the timing of the state board of education and gubernatorial elections. To overcome this limitation, i use an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the effects of years and states fixed as well as individual-level differences in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.

Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the notion that more confident faculty are less likely to be hesitant about evolution-related topics in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to employ strategies such as a reconciliatory approach which is used to increase the students' understanding of evolution.