Evolution Korea

The financial crisis that hit Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, as well the public management of risk. In Korea, that required a change in the development model.

In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has asked textbook publishers to ignore requests for the removal of examples of evolution in high school science texts. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.

1. Evolution and Religion

A creationist group from 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 offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of “atheist materialism,” was behind the move. The STR claims that such materialism creates an image of negativity for students, making them be skeptical.

Scientists from all over the world expressed concerns when the STR campaign was featured in the news. In a letter addressed to the editor of Nature the evolutionary biologist Jae Choe from Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues across the country, who formed a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.

Some researchers are concerned that the STR will expand to other parts of the world, where the belief in 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 populations.

South Korea has a particularly strong cultural background for the debate on evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans belong to of a religious group with the majority of them practicing Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch’ondogyo - the philosophy based on Confucian principles that emphasizes harmony in the social, personal self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch’ondogyo teaches that the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that heavenly blessings can be achieved through good works.

All of this has created an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. Several studies have shown that students who have a religious background tend to be more uncomfortable about learning evolution than those who are not religious. However, the root reasons for this phenomenon are not known. One explanation is that students who have religious beliefs tend to be as familiar with scientific theories and concepts which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that those with religious backgrounds may see evolution as a belief system that is not a religion, which makes them less comfortable.

1. Evolution and Science

In recent times, the scientific community has been concerned about the anti-evolution agenda in schools. A 2009 survey revealed that over 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true and that believing in it would be contrary to their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the popularity of creationism the best way to stop this movement is to educate the public on the evidence that supports evolution.

Scientists are responsible for teaching their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They also need to inform people about the process of science, and how scientific knowledge is collected and verified. They should explain how scientific theories are often challenged and changed. However, misperceptions regarding the nature of scientific research frequently create anti-evolution beliefs.

For example, some people are able to confuse the term “theory” with the normal meaning of the word, which is a hunch or guess. However, in science, a theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical data. A theory that survives repeated testing and observation is an established scientific principle.

The debate over evolutionary theory is a good opportunity to discuss the significance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to be aware that science is not able to answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but rather offers a way for living things to grow and evolve.

A well-rounded education must include exposure to all major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because a lot of jobs and decisions require that people know the way science works.

The vast majority of scientists across the world agree that humans have changed over time. In a recent study, which predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus on this topic those with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely believe there is a wide agreement among scientists regarding human evolution. Those who have more religious faith and less knowledge of science tend to be more skeptical. It is crucial that educators emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus to enable people to make informed decisions regarding health care, energy usage, and other policy matters.

1. Evolution and Culture

Cultural evolution is a cousin of mainstream evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this field employ elaborate models and tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they go back to human prehistory to determine the origins of our capacity for culture.

This approach also acknowledges the distinction between cultural and biological traits. While biological traits are generally inherited all at once (in sexual species, at fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a protracted period of time. The acquisition of a cultural characteristic can influence the development and growth of a different.

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 the most significant was the arrival in Korea of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western clothing and hairstyles.

After that, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to change. At the close of World War II, Korea had once again unified, this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.

Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the financial crisis of recent the economy of Korea has been growing steadily over the last decade. It is expected to continue this growth in the near future.

The current government faces numerous challenges. One of the biggest is the inability to come up with a consistent policy to address the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed the shortcomings of the country’s economic policies, mainly its overreliance on exports and foreign investment which might not be sustainable in the long run.

As the crisis has shattered the confidence of investors, the government has to review its economic strategy and look for alternatives to increase domestic demand. To ensure a stable financial climate, the government will have reform its incentive and monitoring systems, as well as discipline and monitoring. This chapter outlines several scenarios of how the Korean economy could grow after the crisis.

1. Evolution and Education

The challenge for evolution educators is to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different levels of development and ages. Teachers need to, for instance, be sensitive to the diversity of religions within their classrooms and create an environment where students of both religious and secular beliefs are at ease. Teachers must also be aware of common misconceptions about evolution and how to confront these in their classrooms. Finally, teachers must have access to a variety of resources to teach evolution and be able to find them quickly.

In this context, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step towards bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a range of sectors to discuss the best methods for teaching about evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum developers. The convergence of various stakeholders helped identify a set of shared recommendations that will form the basis for future actions.

It is essential to incorporate evolution in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this the National Science Education Standards (NRC) call for evolution to be taught in a seamless manner across all sciences, with a progression of concepts that are developmental appropriate. A new publication from NRC provides guidelines to schools about how to integrate evolution in the life science curriculum.

A number of studies have demonstrated that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution is linked to higher levels of student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify causal effects in the classroom since the curriculum for schools do not change in a random manner and are affected by the timing of state board of education and gubernatorial elections. To overcome this problem I utilize a longitudinal data set that lets me control for fixed state and year effects as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about changes in the curriculum.

Another significant finding is that teachers who feel more comfortable teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to doing so. This is consistent with the notion that a faculty with more confidence is less likely to avoid tackling evolution topics in the classroom and might be more likely use strategies such as an approach to reconciliation that is known to improve the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution (Harms and Reiss 2019