Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “There are hope molecules in the brain”
The “I. National Social Sciences Student Congress” was organized in collaboration with Üsküdar Üniversitesi and MBA Schools. Within the scope of the congress, 20 poster presentations prepared by MBA Schools high school students and 8 paper presentations by experts in their fields were made with the main theme of “Thresholds and Transformations”. Leading scientists, academics, and students from Turkey participated in the congress, which aimed to provide participants with a multidisciplinary perspective in the disciplines of literature, history, health, media, geography, architecture, politics, management, human and society, and philosophy. Speaking at the congress with a presentation titled “New Space: The Brain”, Tarhan noted that the brains of hopeful individuals do not age and work very dynamically.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also attended the congress held at the Emir Nebi Conference Hall of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Çarşı Campus.
Ayfer Batı, CEO of Medicana Education Group MBA Schools, delivered the opening speech titled “The Anatomy of the Threshold: Being Yourself”.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “There are hope molecules in the brain”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Üsküdar Üniversitesi and Psychiatrist, held a talk titled “New Space: The Brain” at the organized congress.
In the talk moderated by the students, Tarhan began by saying: “There are hope molecules in the brain. The brains of hopeful people work very dynamically; they do not age. Hope molecules are a mixture of chemicals in the brain. There is an example from Edison regarding this. At the age of 67, Edison’s million-dollar project workshop completely burned down. His son Charlie thought, ‘We’ll probably go to a coastal town after this. We’ll fish and live our lives like that from now on.’ Edison gathered the whole family in front of the workshop the next morning and said, ‘All our mistakes burned down.’ It became a tremendous hope. He says, ‘The mistakes burned down.’ Three weeks later, he invents the phonograph. Behind this thought is not falling into despair or pessimism. It’s believing in one’s own strength and goals. It’s believing that there is a way out of everything, that there is definitely a plan. Tremendous internal motivation. There is also external motivation, but there is no progress in life with that. We need internal motivation.”
“Hitting rock bottom is the beginning of rising again”
Emphasizing the importance of psychological flexibility, Tarhan stated: “There are two types of people: one with rigid thinking and the other with flexible thinking. Rigid thinking, in common parlance, refers to stubborn people. They have rigid thinking; there is no mental flexibility. They stick to their guns, not even acknowledging prophets. Stubborn people are Teflon-type individuals. A Teflon pan doesn’t flex. It gets scratched, it’s thrown away, but it doesn’t flex. They burn others but don’t burn themselves. In stress management, there are three personality types. One is the Teflon type, the person with rigid thinking. The other type is the sponge type; they flex but absorb everything and collapse. These are the depressive, complaining, and fault-finding types. These people also cannot be happy. They cannot manage stress; they collapse under stress. Individuals with cognitive flexibility are those with neuroplasticity. These individuals are also referred to as having psychological resilience. These types are like rubber. Rubber stretches and returns to its original shape, but it’s a stretch with memory. Just like some sponges produced with nanotechnology. It learns the person’s body structure. It adapts more easily accordingly. The equivalent of this is neuropsychological flexibility. The person stretches and returns to their original state. In life, people sometimes experience things where hitting rock bottom is the beginning of rising again. In other words, the events we experience in life teach us something. Individuals who can say ‘What did I learn from this?’ instead of ‘Why did this happen to me?’ learn things from life events.”
Forgetting is impossible if these six networks are used…
Drawing attention to the 6 loyal guardians of memory, Tarhan said: “The 5W1H (Who, What, Where, When, How, Why) questions. All of these questions have a network. If a person uses these six networks when recording information in their brain, it is impossible for them to forget. There is also biological evidence for this. If you can record this information in the brain with 5W1H, it means you are using neuroplasticity in the brain. To be able to use the neuroplasticity in our brain, one needs to be like an orchestra conductor. If we use it this way, no part of our brain will remain unused. The decision-making region of our brain is the frontal lobe. That is, the anterior region. The left brain is the masculine brain. It is concerned with logic, reasoning, analysis, speech, and calculation. The right brain is the emotional brain. It is related to emotions, excitement, music, and art. The prefrontal cortex is also the captain’s bridge. It finds balances. The most important feature that makes humans human and distinguishes them from other living beings is the prefrontal cortex. Among living creatures, humans have the largest prefrontal cortex.”
“Our approach to events is related to the wisdom we possess”
Emphasizing the importance of positive psychology, Tarhan concluded by saying: “Our approach to events is related to the wisdom we possess. It is related to positive psychology. People with high wisdom can apply positive psychology. One of the foundations of positive psychology is not to be a Pollyanna. Normal psychology brings negative to zero. This is classical psychology. Positive psychology, on the other hand, raises zero to positive, increasing the quality of life. Someone who succeeds in living correctly is someone who adheres to the principles of positive psychology. Such a person makes positive investments in every area. They make positive investments within the family and in interpersonal relationships. They think positively in three areas. The first is to be positive in what we call coping style, that is, in managing stress. The second is to be positive in what we call communication style. And the third is to be positive in what we call problem-solving style. If you are positive in these three areas, you will see every part of your brain from a negative perspective, and then from a positive one. You learn from the negative, but you progress positively.”
Opening panel began with “Thresholds and Transformations”
The opening panel of the congress began with the title “Thresholds and Transformations”. The moderation of the panel was carried out by Academician Author Prof. Dr. Uğur Batı. Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, Rector Advisor of Üsküdar Üniversitesi, TV Series – Film Director Mustafa Uğur Yağcıoğlu, and Author Zuhal Mansfield attended the panel.
Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Sever, Faculty Member of Ankara University Faculty of Educational Sciences and MBA Science Board Member, delivered his speech titled “Transformations in Childhood”.
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay: “It is essential for different disciplines to come together and work collaboratively”
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, Rector Advisor of Üsküdar Üniversitesi and Head of the Department of Internal Medical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, spoke at the opening panel titled “Thresholds and Transformations”.
Uzbay stated: “One of the biggest shortcomings in Turkey is the inability of different disciplines to come together. Even from our student years, we are separated into quantitative and verbal fields. This distinction then continues in science and research areas. Everyone works in their own field, but because information from different fields does not merge, we cannot create strong syntheses. However, what we truly need is to be able to make these syntheses. If we want to move forward, produce new things, and keep up with the world, it is essential for different disciplines to come together, understand each other, and work collaboratively. Another important issue is having correct and true information. Knowledge is indeed power, but if you start with false information, no matter how hardworking or productive you are, you will not get results. Acting in the right place, at the right time, with the right information is one of the most critical points.”
Brain Rot? Or Mental Obesity?
Referring to the problems brought by digitalization, Uzbay said: “Today, with the digital revolution, the concept of ‘brain rot’ has emerged. However, from a scientific perspective, the brain of a living person does not rot. The brain continues to function as long as it is alive and healthy. Rotting is a process that occurs after death. Therefore, I prefer to use the term ‘mental obesity’ instead of ‘brain rot’. In physical obesity, a person gains excess weight, mobility decreases, and they become susceptible to certain diseases. A similar situation applies to the brain. We are exposed to too much information, but we cannot filter this information. As a result, mental agility decreases, and our thinking ability begins to dull.”
Paper presentations were made
Following the panel, paper presentations were made on topics such as “Traces of the Past, Shadows of the Future”, “Crossing the Thresholds of Language”, “Tuberculosis in Tanzimat Novels”, and papers titled “Digital Thresholds”, “Modernization of Defense”, and “Hope” were presented. Afterwards, poster presentations were also made.
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Doğan: “Learned helplessness is a condition we unconsciously develop in our lives”
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Doğan, Faculty Member of the Psychology Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, gave a presentation titled “Learned Helplessness: Losing Hope in Oneself” at the organized congress. Doğan stated: “Learned helplessness is a condition we unconsciously develop in our lives. We try repeatedly on a matter, but when we fail, we give up by saying ‘I can’t do it.’ For example, sentences like ‘No matter what I do, I can’t lose weight,’ or ‘I don’t understand mathematics anyway,’ are perfect examples of this. At this point, we stop fighting and accept failure. In fact, this condition is also linked to depression, as it manifests with symptoms such as hopelessness, lack of self-confidence, and inaction.”
“We can see that we can do many things we thought we couldn’t”
Prof. Dr. Doğan, stating that self-fulfilling prophecy and learned helplessness are often confused, said: “In a self-fulfilling prophecy, we think ‘I can’t do it anyway’ before even starting the task, and indeed, we can’t. In learned helplessness, we first fail, and then we believe we cannot do it. The good news is that this can be changed. If we become aware and proceed with small steps, we can see that we can actually do many things we thought we couldn’t.”
The I. National Social Sciences Student Congress stood out by creating a scientific platform where high school students discussed social, cultural, economic, and scientific thresholds. In this respect, the congress also represents a new academic threshold in high school education.
