RE: Don't get your children educated in South Korea.
June 5, 2012 at 2:56 pm
(This post was last modified: June 5, 2012 at 2:58 pm by Anomalocaris.)
The success of fundamentalist christianity in South Korea, rather unique amongst establoshed Far Eastern cultures, could perhaps be explained by the standard of inner intellectual integrity with respect to scientific fact exhibited by the majority of population.
In early 2000s, Professor Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University claimed multiple breakthroughs in the field of Stem Cell research. His supposed successes appeared to put him in the lead in the field of stem cell reseach. He was lionized in the Korean press and showered with accolades for appearently putting at least one field of Korean basic science reseach into a position of global leadership position.. He was give the rather cringe inducing title of "Chief National Scientist" of Korea. He was idolized as a symbol of Korean national greatness.
As it turns out, he fabricated his most important experiments. His progress was fake. His fraudulence was uncovered by an academic committee at Seoul National University. The public response in South Korea was startling, and rather revealing. Rather than vilify Hwang the fraudest for the deceit and for what is effectivbely embezzlement of of goverment research funds, the public overwhelmingly vilified the academic committee for disclosing the fraud. The public opinion was Hwang's fraud was patroitic because it put Korean stem cell research on the map. The academic committee memebers, on the other hand, were deemed to be traitorous because by exposing the fraud, they strip South Korea of its apperent glory, however little that could truly be deserved due to lack of real progress.
This overt contempt for truth and lust for even the most undeniably fraudulent of glories would seem make for rather fertile grounds for as fraudulent a religion as christianity.
In early 2000s, Professor Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University claimed multiple breakthroughs in the field of Stem Cell research. His supposed successes appeared to put him in the lead in the field of stem cell reseach. He was lionized in the Korean press and showered with accolades for appearently putting at least one field of Korean basic science reseach into a position of global leadership position.. He was give the rather cringe inducing title of "Chief National Scientist" of Korea. He was idolized as a symbol of Korean national greatness.
As it turns out, he fabricated his most important experiments. His progress was fake. His fraudulence was uncovered by an academic committee at Seoul National University. The public response in South Korea was startling, and rather revealing. Rather than vilify Hwang the fraudest for the deceit and for what is effectivbely embezzlement of of goverment research funds, the public overwhelmingly vilified the academic committee for disclosing the fraud. The public opinion was Hwang's fraud was patroitic because it put Korean stem cell research on the map. The academic committee memebers, on the other hand, were deemed to be traitorous because by exposing the fraud, they strip South Korea of its apperent glory, however little that could truly be deserved due to lack of real progress.
This overt contempt for truth and lust for even the most undeniably fraudulent of glories would seem make for rather fertile grounds for as fraudulent a religion as christianity.
