Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör attended the opening conference of the 9th ILAMER Conferences, organized by Near East University Faculty of Communication and Communication Research Center, as a speaker. Underlining that intellectual freedom is necessary for scientific production, Güngör pointed out that individuals should be encouraged to develop and freely utilize their intellectual abilities.
The opening conference, held online under the title “University and Science in Today's World: Scientific Thought and the Future of Humanity,” saw strong participation.
Prof. Dr. Fevzi Kasap and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Ufuk Çelik moderated the conference.
“Education is much more than mere instruction”
Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör drew attention to the importance of education, stating that universities should consciously guide individuals. Güngör said; “Scientific knowledge should be seen as a tool that must contribute to the development of all humanity. Here, certain actors might use scientific knowledge to manipulate masses. Therefore, it is necessary to create such awareness. So, where will we create this awareness, who will create it, how will it be created? Who will create the awareness regarding its necessity to be activated for humanity? The first institutions that come to mind here are universities. We need to start with the sensitivity in universities or with the functioning of universities. Where do universities stand in society, what is the purpose of these institutions, what are their primary missions and duties? Their purpose, of course, is to provide education and instruction. This is where it actually begins; what we call education and instruction is not merely entering classrooms and transferring some information to students. Training young individuals who come to universities for certain professions by imparting knowledge on specific subjects is already a given, but it is also about providing true education. Education is much different, much more than mere instruction. When we talk about education, we must influence that individual's world, their worldview, their future vision—all of it. That is, when we talk about education, we need to guide that individual on how they can relate themselves as an individual to the world they are in.”
“We are experiencing difficulties in becoming individuals”
Güngör, stating that individuals need to be in an intellectually free space for scientific production and should be encouraged to develop their own intellectual abilities, said; “We are experiencing difficulties in becoming individuals. We struggle to accept ourselves as individuals, to raise every person born into our society as an individual. We don't have the concern of being a whole individual with self-confidence, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional aspects. We have lost that concern, that goal, that vision. In our own social environment, someone imprints a format on our flow, our emotional side, our spiritual character, perhaps by rote learning or by some sort of brain formatting. Within that imposed format, we start to direct our lives with it, trying to live life. We try to shape our latest practices according to it. In fact, with those formats, we are trying to live lives that are not ours. Within lives that are not ours, we are struggling in situations where there is no self-production, where we do not use our intellectual abilities, where we have given up using them freely. This is the main reason for the stagnation. Whereas, for scientific production, one needs to be in an intellectually free space and should be encouraged to develop, freely use, and utilize their intellectual abilities.”
“There is also a need for people to do ordinary jobs in society”
Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör emphasized that for production to occur, individuals must first be able to think flexibly and analytically. Güngör said; “Despite all universities or most of them being equipped with advanced technology laboratories, scientific production that resonates within society and can be linked to the reality people live in cannot be achieved. For production to take place, above all, individuals need to be able to think flexibly and analytically. Analytical thinking develops from birth, first within the family and then within the school. It is even specific to our society that every child born into a family is defined as a 'genius.' Then they are constantly formatted to become engineers or doctors. There is also a need for people to do ordinary jobs in society. Truck drivers and sanitation workers are also needed. Therefore, there must be systems in place to thoroughly evaluate all of an individual's biological and mental processes and talents, and to identify them. Every individual needs to be raised with this purpose and brought into society. Now, with the formats imposed on them, individuals are struggling in lives that are not their own, that are unrelated to them, and that do not align well with their talents, desires, or sense of pleasure. With such a system, are people living life, or is life making people live it? We need to question this.”
“We need to create awareness in humanity”
Güngör, addressing the potential and inner production energy inherent in human nature, stated; “If people are not allowed to realize themselves, if they are formatted with certain molds from birth, they will grow up to form masses vulnerable to all kinds of manipulation within society. People will not be those who organize life, contribute to the world, direct the world, and shape life, but rather individuals and masses who are directed by others, open to others' manipulations, passive, unthinking, and unaware of their own inner productive energies. This is the point where humanity is currently stuck. Because of masses open to manipulation, certain actors play all sorts of games. If every individual were conscious to prevent these actors, we would be living in a very different world today. Human nature inherently possesses potential and inner production energy. Activating this energy and ensuring its mechanism functions is crucial. All of this, on one hand, brings about the process of raising people's awareness, necessitating it. The world we have reached is squeezed, blocked, guided by interest groups, and truly unbearable due to manipulation, but it's never too late to turn back from a wrong path. Therefore, we must at least strive to prevent living in such a constricted world from reaching a breaking point. We somehow need to create awareness in humanity. A huge responsibility falls on all of us to neutralize or reduce the effect of the dominant jargons we speak of today in this life—divisions, separations, fragmentations, racism, religiosity. Let's undertake projects accordingly in universities.”
The conference concluded after a Q&A session.