Evolution Korea

Until recently the scientific community in Korea has refrained from engaging with the creationists, fearing that doing so might boost the credibility of the group. Silence is no longer an option.

The STR has been battling to remove content from textbooks that discuss evolution, including the discovery of the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx as an ancestral bird's ancestor. This is only one aspect of the evolution of the development paradigm.

What is Evolution?

The theory of evolution is a scientific one that explains the evolution of the genetic characteristics of living organisms over time. The theory is based upon the fact that living organisms adapt to their environment, which may lead to variations in genes or entire genomes. Over the course of many generations the changes could result in the emergence of new species. Natural selection is the predominant theory of evolution. It explains how individuals with advantageous traits can reproduce faster and longer than those with disadvantageous ones. This variation in reproduction could eventually lead to the emergence and evolution of new species.

The term "evolution" is derived from the Latin word for unrolling or revealing. However, the concept itself has a myriad of meanings as it has taken form in the fields of science and elsewhere. Early evolutionists such as Erasmus Darwin (Charles’s grandfather) and Jean Baptiste de Lamarck believed that species were predestined to change into another species. Etienne Geoffroy St-Hilaire was Lamarck's embryologist student who came up with the term "transmutation" to describe this idea. Charles Lyell, in his Principles of Geology, published in 1833, challenged the idea of evolution and borrowed the term from Geoffroy's student.

In recent years evolutionary biologists have defined evolution as a process that occurs when living creatures develop characteristics that enhance their chances of survival or the ability to produce offspring. As time passes, genetic variation can lead a population to acquire new physical characteristics or biological functions. Such a change in gene frequencies is called natural selection, and is the primary driver behind evolutionary changes. Non-genetic changes, such as an increase in muscle mass due to exercise or diet, cannot be considered to be evolution since they aren't passed on to future generations.

Despite the fact that evolution has withstood the test of time and thousands of scientific experiments, creationists have seized on the idea that the theory is controversial to argue that it shouldn't be taught in schools. In South Korea, creationists have gained a few victories in their campaign to exclude evolution from textbooks for high school and have also gotten rid of references to the evolutionary roots of humans, as well as the Archaeopteryx feathered dinosaur thought to be the ancestral bird's parent.

Why is Evolution important to humanity?

Evolution explains the origins and evolution of Earth and all living species. It also serves as a basis of biology and helps scientists to understand how living organisms work and grow. Evolution also reveals the relat