Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: 'Neighborhood' makes life easier!

The neighborhood, which is considered the strongest social bond after family ties, is weakened by the relationship brought about by modernism. President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan evaluated the damage caused by industrialization and modernization on neighborly relations and said that "If the close and warm relations of people are good, a sense of trust is formed in society. Neighborliness is a second support of warm and sincere relationships based on trust outside the family. This is both a spatial bond and a social bond. The current apartment structure has created people who are spatially close but socially and emotionally distant. Unfortunately, social relations of people have been replaced by virtual relations.".

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that there were differences in the neighborly relations in the past and today with the change brought by modernism, and said that "Neighborliness is a second area where a person establishes a bond after the family. Thanks to neighborly relations, the child can play comfortably when they go out on the street. There may be people outside their family that they can ask when they need something. This is a second support of trust-based warm and sincere relationships outside the family. It is solidarity. Neighborliness is considered to be the strongest social bond after family ties.".

“There is a false freedom brought about by modernism."

Pointing out that the person who seems to be free in the false freedom offered by modernism is actually lonely, Tarhan said that "Here, one's communication is low and weak. Relationships have turned into interest-oriented relationships instead of sincere and altruistic relationships. This is a feature of the secularization that this era has brought. An understanding of a philosophy of life based only on material and interest, which has no dimension of meaning and no spiritual dimension, has also affected the neighborhood. As a result, bonds of trust have been weakened, and people who feel that harm will come from the neighbor have increased. The child who grows up in such a situation grows up by thinking 'Life is unsafe'. You grow without even trusting the nearest neighbor. Even in the family, we sometimes see children who are raised as 'don't trust even your father'. Many of these children develop mental health disorders. There is a sense of statelessness, rootlessness and abandonment in people. The result is the neurotic person of the age.".

Stating that the 'weakening of neighborly bonds’ was seen as the danger awaiting people in the 'World Values Survey' published in Chicago, Tarhan said that "Three dangers awaiting humanity were said in Davos in 2018: The first is economic inequality, the second is climate change, and the third is seen as loneliness. Loneliness means a decrease in confidence. People are becoming alienated. The alienated person becomes a robot, and the system manages them. We become slaves to the established system, the digital system. The type of people who become an element of consumption is emerging. One is getting unhappy. Neighborhood is actually a beautiful solution that humanity has found. When parents cannot be close, neighbors are a great support.".

Neighborhood makes life easier

Stating that there should be a self-interested and non-calculating relationship between neighbors, Tarhan said that "People sometimes feel the need to eliminate loneliness and share. Even if a neighbor just listens to them, even if they approve some of their words, that person feels safe in that moment. By thinking as ‘When there is a crisis, there is a second door where I can take refuge, there is someone who can help me', this even causes the person to sleep comfortably. It makes life easier.”.

The first gateway to society: The neighbor

Pointing out that there are verses in all sacred texts emphasizing that neighborliness comes after parents, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that "Neighborliness has served social peace. It is the neighbor who is the first door where family privacy opens to society. In such a case, it is a second area after the family. For this reason, if the person is in a giving and sharing relationship with the neighbor, if there is a relationship focused on 'Be kind to the neighbor!', benevolent feelings are awakened on the other side. Goodness magnifies the benevolent part, and the motivation to do kindness is brought out on the other side.".

Neighborhood creates a sense of 'life is safe'

Noting that in our culture, there is the question 'Do you have a need?' in neighborly relations, Tarhan also explained the areas where neighbors support each other with examples: "When a new person comes to the neighborhood, everyone visits, and they immediately bring their tea and soup. And, they help. If the neighbor has a funeral, immediately all the neighbors gather. Every neighborhood has such a wise mother. They do not give room for gossip. They always support each other. At weddings and invitations on holidays, they always help with pots and pans, and they make halva. In the neighborhood, these create a sense of 'I am valuable, I am cared for, life is safe' in the developing soul of a person. This is something that prevents the emergence of many mental illnesses for a person.".

Social relationships have been replaced by virtual relationships

Stating that in our culture, the neighborhood is seen as the smallest unit that makes the cultural transfer of the society after the family, Tarhan said that "The so-called neighborhood pressure is actually a social norm. In social norms, there are social boundaries in that society. For example, when a child misbehaves, one of the neighbors intervenes. Even if there are no parents, society kind of represses the mistakes of that child. However, modernity has disrupted this, and so has the rapid transformation and technology brought about by industrialization. When dealing with technology, people have become unable to spare time for each other. Nowadays, human social relations have been replaced by virtual relationships. There is no sociality on social media. On social media, people often hide their identities, and therefore, entering the most insecure areas in the safe environment of the home. They form false friendships and think lying is a skill.".

The world is heading towards digital dictatorship

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that people on social media are trying to look as they should be, not as they are and continued his remarks as follows: "This is also a disrespect to themselves. The relationship of trust between people is damaged, and a fake communication appears. This is what we call alienation, the inability to be oneself. We have become individuals managed by an established system. We think we are free, but the world is now heading towards a digital dictatorship. People are experiencing a kind of psychological alienation, and there is a voluntary imperialism, so to speak. In the past, people's possessions were taken by force, and colonialism was done by force. Now it is being taken by voluntary imperialism. Desire is aroused in people, and weaknesses in human beings are used. The attraction is being created.".

We need to be the subject of technology, not the object

Stating that people are currently victims of technology, Tarhan said that "In fact, there is a solution to this. We need to focus on 'what can I do right now?' We are the object of technology; however, we need to be its subject. If we are in control, if we do the time management ourselves and can say 'no', we can succeed. The real freedom is not to get caught up in the desires and impulses of others, but to say no to our own desires and impulses. Without falling into the traps of pleasure that technology offers us, we will plan our day and manage it accordingly. We will know what, where, and how to use it. We will be the subject of our own lives.".

Aimlessness leads to social media trap

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that aimlessness leads young people into the trap of social media and said that "To say no to such pleasure traps and the things that take up our energy and time, people need purpose. For example, school or university is a goal. There are abstract goals about what kind of person you will be at the end of life. A young person with such a goal is able to manage themselves. If there is a philosophy of life that regards self-interest, deceit and lying, and being greedy, this person can easily fall into the traps of pleasure, the traps of money, the traps of profit, and the traps of drugs. One has to be a good person first.".

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)