Yes, there are too many posts today, but there’s a lot of hot news: a solar transit of Venus, the secularization of Norway, and now a depressing bit of news, reported today by Nature:
Mention creationism, and many scientists think of the United States, where efforts to limit the teaching of evolution have made headway in a couple of states. But the successes are modest compared with those in South Korea, where the anti-evolution sentiment seems to be winning its battle with mainstream science.
A petition to remove references to evolution from high-school textbooks claimed victory last month after the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) revealed that many of the publishers would produce revised editions that exclude examples of the evolution of the horse or of avian ancestor Archaeopteryx. The move has alarmed biologists, who say that they were not consulted. “The ministry just sent the petition out to the publishing companies and let them judge,” says Dayk Jang, an evolutionary scientist at Seoul National University.
The campaign was led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), which aims to delete the “error” of evolution from textbooks to “correct” students’ views of the world, according to the society’s website. The society says that its members include professors of biology and high-school science teachers.
. . . The STR is an independent offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research (KACR), according to KACR spokesman Jungyeol Han.
Surely Korean scientists, both in that country and throughout the world, can do something to prevent their country from looking so stupid. I think this is the first technologically advanced nation in the world whose national government has campaigned against teaching evolution in the schools.
Maybe I can find a way to deploy my ten remaining Korean copies of Why Evolution is True.
You just can’t fix stupid……
It is beyond bizarre that they did not consult any scientists before deciding to excise part of the science curriculum.
Scientists don’t mobilize many voters, so it makes perfect sense to me. Politicians are in the business of getting voted for.
sadly, I have to +1 this.
it’s too accurate not too.
It’s a good thing stupidity isn’t an Olympic sport or we might have even more countries joining in.
South Koreans will cease evolving, in much the same way that North Carolina won’t flood.
+1
At least your comment made me laugh. L
I’ll look on the bright side: maybe they won’t be leading us (the United States) in math and science education that much longer. 🙂
Haha, I was thinking the same thing.
“You know, it’s nice of them to jog in place so we Americans can catch up a bit to the international average in science education, but I don’t think it’s fair to their students….”
strangely, I myself have never looked at science and education as a competition.
Rather, in this global community with such large scale issues that must be dealt with by all of us, it deeply saddens me that any piece of our community is going backwards.
the notion that nations must compete against each other is really badly archaic.
Well said!
You know that I was joking, right?
The sad/distressing thing is that understanding evolution is so critical to developments in medicine, care for the environment, dealing with climate change and so forth. It’s not just an abstract theory with minimal practical consequences like say, Fermat’s Last Theorem (although the proof of that opened up a lot of new days). Understanding evolution is essential to our survival and planet maintenence!!!
That is supposed to read “new doors” not “new days”
Maybe your ten Korean copies could go to Dayk Jang at Seoul National University as he seems to be organizing a counter-campaign.
I imagine that fraud Wells over at the DI has already called his Father to offer congratulations.
*sigh*
frankly, that wouldn’t be at all surprising.
Uncommon Desacent is currently putting out self-contradictory information about the events in South Korea. First Sal Cordova (scordova) who is a young-earth creationist, wrote a post bragging “Darwinism Defeated in Korea” and citing the Nature news item, with his URL link the phrase “South Korean Darwinists Surrender to Creationists” (when the Nature article was actually titled “South Korea surrenders to creationist demands” — slight difference there).
Then they put up a post by “johnnyb” claiming that Nature is misrepresenting the situation — the South Korean textbook publishers were just reacting to creationists who wanted to remove obsolete and inaccurate evidences, long-discarded by evolutionary biologists, from the textbooks. The most amazing statement he makes is that contrary to what Nature would have you believe, ID’ers actually *want* evolution taught *well*”.
typo in my comment, should read “Uncommon Descent” …
actually it should read:
Uncommonly Dense
😉
I wonder how many Dishonesty Institute readers know that Jonathan Wells is a Moony?
that the good rev, the “second coming of Jesus hisself”, sponsored Jonny’s studies at UCB?
I bet they keep that rather hush-hush over at the DI
wouldn’t want to upset the rubes, ya know.
This could just conceivably turn out to the advantage of sanity. It’s one thing for some rubes in a little hamlet in PA to toss Darwin under the bus. Sure, we all knew about it and the trial, but how widely was the outcome of the trial appreciated/noticed in the rest of the country?
If, instead, a whole country goes for it, it might just attract international attention and derision. And if you were Korean your sense of national pride in being part of a modern, advanced society might wind up being hurt.
Not saying it will wind up this way, y’understand, just saying it’s a possible outcome, over time.
If, instead, a whole country goes for it, it might just attract international attention and derision.
perhaps, but I’m also uncomfortable with the idea that an entire generation of kids will have their education destroyed because some idiotic politicians wanted to play “appease the authoritarian rubes”.
I’m not sure I would be willing to sacrifice any kids personal education on the altar of ideology, regardless of what that meant for the long term sanity of education.
Next up. South Korean high school physics textbooks to include the phlogiston theory.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, to spin it as, “See how unreliable science is?”
I think you mean chemistry books, physics text books will include the ether theory
Actually, I read about in one of my undergraduate physics textbooks, although it was clear that it was a dead hypothesis.
What! Is South Korea into religious creationism?
South Korea has been undergoing heavy evangelization of the most brain dead US variety for decades now.
This was quite an expected outcome.
That’s very likely IMO. Christianity became the majority religion in the 1960s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Korea
I don’t think that’s true. Your link mentions that in the 2005 census only 29.2 percent is Christian. It did say “its growth since the 1960s has been significant enough that the number of adherents to Christianity surpassed that of adherents to the traditional religions”.
This could mean less than 29.2% are traditional religions, leaving 40% or more as atheists or non-adherents of any religion.
Just checked wikipedia entry for South Korea. 46% has no religion.
They still beat the US hands down!
Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant. Protestants and Catholics together have more adherents than all the other religions.
And even if they’re not the majority in an absolute sense, I still think that they have more influence and are more assertive overall than the Buddhists, the other major religion.
So the chances are good that the attempt to purge evolution from textbooks is due to some Christian busybodies (probably some American influenced Protestant denomination).
Also, according to the wiki-page on religion in South Korea, the percentage of non-religious citizens is around 46.5.
This explains a whole lot. I found the post very puzzling at first as my first impression was judeo-christian type faiths didn’t have a particularly strong hold in the region. I’d like to know what the magic meme is. China and parts of India such as kerala are also undergoing a religious metamorphosis with Christianity making incredible gains. I’d like to think silly, stone-age, blood thirsty tales with themes of pain and salvation have resonance for people whose own lives are soaked in relative illiteracy, brute hardship and insecurity. But China grows more prosperous by the day. And Kerala in India has impressively high literacy rates and a social welfare streak. WTF.
Believe S Korea has highest IQs in the world. So much for “brains” combating superstition and political pandering.
Thank Buddha the Chinese and Indians are not evangelical christians.
evangelical hindus and muslims have their own creationist anti-science brigades.
There is no movement as strong as the creationist movement in the US. Things like evolution denial aren’t that big a deal in hinduism as there is no well-founded creation myth and no over-arching principles derived from that creation myth. There is enough time in the hindu timeline of the universe for life to start and evolution to occur a few times over, so that is also not that much of a problem.
That’s very likely IMO. Christianity became the majority religion in the 1960s.
I will use this result to flog Nick Matzke the next time he comes in to claim that “most xians aren’t creationists”
because in the end, it doesn’t matter.
this is a perfect example of why accomodationism will fail.
This might also shed some light on the whole issue:
Presidential Election in South Korea Highlights Influence of Christian Community
This supports my contention that Christianity, especially over most other religious ideologies, has been deliberately honed to be a force for coordinating and manipulating authoritarian personalities.
both by those outside of it, as well as those inside.
IOW, by both dominate and submissive authoritarian personalities.
Forces of darkness winning #2 (These are just from today’s in box.)
“How Texas Inflicts Bad Textbooks on Us
by Gail Collins
June 21, 2012
Texas State Board of Education members Cynthia Dunbar, Barbara Cargill, and Gail Lowe discussing curriculum standards, Austin, May 2008. Cargill, who was appointed chairwoman last year by Governor Rick Perry, has expressed concern that there are now only ‘six true conservative Christians on the board.’
“What happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas when it comes to textbooks”
No matter where you live, if your children go to public schools, the textbooks they use were very possibly written under Texas influence. If they graduated with a reflexive suspicion of the concept of separation of church and state and an unexpected interest in the contributions of the National Rifle Association to American history, you know who to blame.
When it comes to meddling with school textbooks, Texas is both similar to other states and totally different. It’s hardly the only one that likes to fiddle around with the material its kids study in class. The difference is due to size—4.8 million textbook-reading schoolchildren as of 2011—and the peculiarities of its system of government, in which the State Board of Education is selected in elections that are practically devoid of voters, and wealthy donors can chip in unlimited amounts of money to help their favorites win.
Those favorites are not shrinking violets. In 2009, the nation watched in awe as the state board worked on approving a new science curriculum under the leadership of a chair who believed that “evolution is hooey.” In 2010, the subject was social studies and the teachers tasked with drawing up course guidelines were supposed to work in consultation with “experts” added on by the board, one of whom believed that the income tax was contrary to the word of God in the scriptures….”
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/21/how-texas-inflicts-bad-textbooks-on-us/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=June+5+2012&utm_content=June+5+2012+CID_a7c4c8703d0f58f51d8b4160ebb234ae&utm_source=Email+marketing+software&utm_term=How+Texas+Inflicts+Bad+Textbooks+on+Us
Fortunately, one of the states which is high-tech and with an economy and population rivalling Texas, namely California, does not get its textbooks from Texas.
Knowing how strangely Christian a lot of South Koreans were I wondered if something like this would happen. I’m always surprised Japan got managed to avoid this considering the large influence from America after WWII. Probably much more complicated than I think.
Unlike Japan, Korea had the Korea-war 1950-53 (American euphemism calls it “Korean conflict” sometimes) with the country split and US troups stationed in the South afterwards. Then no real democracy until 1987. One can’t simply lump them together with Japan.
A Ministery of Education pushing creationism? Why don’t they rename it to Ministery of Truth? And while they are at it, let them rename their MoD to Ministery of Love.
Does this mean that the US is not the “dumbest” developed nation?
Individuals are allowed their own delusions. However, when governments legislate against facts pandering to a minority’s delusions that breaks a basic principal of civil society.
How can I get a copy of the Korean version of WEIT?
What? How could this be possible? A developed nation with high standard of living. Do they have highly unequal distribution of wealth? I had the impression that non-Christian Koreans look at the Christians as “weird”.
Not surprised that this is coming from South Korea, they are very religious. My own opinion is that they are authoritarian and religious, get the wrong people in power and this is what happens…
Not that it matters much but I am part Korean and come from a fundamentalist Christian family, I’d say the majority of Korean Christians that I know resemble southern baptist and/or Pentecostalism.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area a disproportionately large percentage of the very traditional evangelical churches are Korean.
Reblogged this on emmageraln.
As a South Korean atheist, I can’t. I just can’t.
There is no such thing as “too many posts”.
The Korean xians are hardcore fundies for the most part and pretty ugly even for xians.
They’ve been attacking Buddhist temples and shrines for a long time. Because nothing says, “Jesus loves you” like burning down a temple
The government hasn’t done much of anything to stop them.
A lot of the politicians including the President are xians which means they either control or heavily influence the government. Which is how this sort of thing happens.
Xians of all kinds are only 30% of the population with the rest split into Buddhists, traditional religion, and Nones. So what are the other 70% of the Koreans doing about this?
And the moderate Korean xians. There might be one or two somewhere. Or not.
Here is what The New York Post, Wed., 6/6/12, has to say about it:
South Korea set to remove examples of evolution from textbooks
Publishers agree to revision in victory for pro-creationist groups
Comments (16)
By Meghan Neal / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 5:31 PM
South Korea is set to remove examples of evolution from high-school textbooks.South Korean publishers are poised to delete references to evolution from high-school textbooks, a victory for the growing creationist movement in the country.
The move came after the South Korean government passed along to publishers a petition organized by a pro-creationist group, Nature reported Tuesday.
The group, the Society for Textbook Revise, petitioned to remove examples of the evolution of the horse and the ancestral Archaeopteryx bird, and is also campaigning to cut any reference to the evolution of humans or Charles Darwin’s theory of the origin of the species.
South Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced the news last month.
“The ministry just sent the petition out to the publishing companies and let them judge,” Dayk Jang, an evolutionary scientist at Seoul National University, told Nature.
South Korea’s Society for Textbook Revise is an offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research, the major force behind the pro-creationist movement in the country.
It was set up by the U.S. Institute of Creation Research in the early 1980s, around the time Christianity began its rapid rise across South Korea.
Reports put the number of South Korean Christians at around 20%, making it surpass Buddhism as the most popular religion in the country.
Religious beliefs aren’t the only reason roughly a third of South Koreans question the theory of evolution, Nature reported. A 2009 survey cited found more than 40% of people didn’t think there was enough scientific evidence to back the theory of evolution up.
So where are the scientists in all this?
Biologists were not consulted in the decision to revise textbooks, and there’s little pushback from the scientific community against the anti-evolution movement, Jang told Nature.
“When something like this comes to fruition, the scientific community can be caught flat-footed,” Josh Rosenau, programs and policy director at the National Center for Science Education told the Daily News. “Scientists are not by their nature political.”
South Korea is an up-and-coming scientific powerhouse, Rosenau said, adding that it’s crucial to continue to teach evolution in schools if the county wants to compete on the international stage.
“Evolution is the core of modern biological science,” he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/south-korea-set-remove-examples-evolution-textbooks-article-1.1091083#ixzz1x6DGvdUa
I am Korean and when I was a little kid during the 70’s there was hardly any other kid in the classroom who questioned evolution nor do I remember any creationist teacher.
At the time Korea was poor and could not afford any ‘extravagance’ that would hinder their path to a modern nation. Now it appears that Korea regressed after it had achieved what it had wanted for so long.
Koreans, despite people’s general pride in their country, are not philosophically very sophisticated yet. All kinds of appalling pseudo-science abound there, things like ESP, UFO, personality according to blood types etc.
I consider this(creationism) to be just one of them.
I think Korea will correct itself in due time especially after the religious fanatic current president is gone.