Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Üsküdar Üniversitesi, was the guest of the interview organized by Bursa Birlik Academy. In the online event, Tarhan made important evaluations on the topic of 'The Changing World and Youth'. Addressing the pros and cons of being young today, Tarhan drew attention to the misfortune of today's youth. Tarhan said; “Previous generations had a chance. Their elders, their extended families, guided them in some way. They cleared the way for the child not to make mistakes. But today's youth is not like that. For today's youth, there are too many things that are misleading, attractive, tempting, and distracting. Things that show what is good, right, and beautiful are limited. The 20th century was the age of information, and the 21st century will be the age of wisdom. If we cannot learn wisdom, we will miss this era.”
“Modernism does not make people happy; on the contrary, it turns them into material beings”
Drawing attention to the perceptions created by modernism today, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said; “The Western world, modernism, cannot make people happy. It enriched people, increased our material welfare, but our spiritual welfare is at rock bottom. Suicides, violent crimes, and divorces have increased. The younger generation is afraid to marry. So, this is the kind of youth, a life that modernism offers us. Modernism does not make people happy; on the contrary, it turns them into producing surpluses, material beings. In other words, it creates a type of human focused on basic needs like eating, drinking, reproducing, and sheltering, equivalent to animals. The doctrine of popular culture today, the doctrine of Western civilization, is like this. Against this, our Eastern civilization, the wisdom of Anatolia, must have a thesis, a view. I presented this thesis, this view, to readers in February 2022 as two books titled 'Psychology of Wisdom 1 and Psychology of Wisdom 2', using the advantages my profession provides. In fact, in the first book, I try to explain that the needs of the changing youth in this changing world are also changing.”
“When neuroscience and psychology are synthesized, psychology finds the truth”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, speaking about the process of emotions becoming a scientific category, said; “You may have heard of the book 'Descartes’ Error'. It revolutionized psychology in the 1990s. It said, 'Humans are not just reason; there are areas in the human brain responsible for emotions. Emotions are a scientific category. People need to learn to manage their emotions.' This situation entered education as emotional intelligence training. Gardner was the first to articulate emotional intelligence training loudly. He introduced twenty-four character strengths as a multiple intelligence thesis. All these twenty-four character strengths are also values of our Anatolian wisdom. Currently, it was approached with hesitation. Psychology; classical psychology, analytical psychology, humanistic psychology strongly resisted and did not accept this. I am rooted in psychiatry, not psychology. I more easily synthesized neuroscience and psychology with its proofs. When I first spoke about positive psychology with its proofs, there were those who challenged me asking, 'What is its theoretical basis?' But now there is no problem. Because it has been scientifically proven. Meta-analyses have been published, and there is very strong evidence. Currently, when neuroscience and psychology are synthesized, psychology finds the truth.”
Things that show youth what is good, right, and beautiful are more limited today!
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, expressing the impact of being a good person on success, spoke about the concepts that should be at the center of life. Prof. Dr. Tarhan said; “Being smart and hardworking is not enough to be successful. In addition to being smart and hardworking, one also needs to be a good person. To be smart, hardworking, and a good person. The important thing is for a person to be able to put these 3 parameters at the center of their life. A person who can do this becomes smart and hardworking. But at the same time, they have to make a choice between good and bad. Because life itself is a choice. We are constantly making choices, and I can say that making the right choices all the time in this era is much more difficult than in ancient times. We live in such a time. Therefore, what kind of person should one be intrinsically to be able to make the right decisions and make the right choices? What kind of person should one be to progress on the path of life always making the right decisions without making big mistakes? That is, how will one make healthy and accurate decisions in marriage, career, work, and friend choices? Previous generations had a chance. Their elders, their extended families, guided them in some way. They cleared the way for the child not to make mistakes. But today's youth is not like that. For today's youth, there are too many things that are misleading, attractive, tempting, and distracting. Things that show what is good, right, and beautiful are limited. Because I have noticed this for about 10-15 years, I published books titled Psychology of Wisdom 1 and 2 as a result of long-term studies. Actually, our target audience there is the youth in a changing world. The 20th century was the age of information, and the 21st century will be the age of wisdom. It has to be. If the 21st century cannot be the age of wisdom, if we cannot learn wisdom, we will miss this era.”
“Stubborn people have ego and rigidity of thought”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, expressing the qualities one should look for in a person to marry, said; “There is a wonderful piece of information that a professor from GATA conveyed to us with great Anatolian wisdom, which I never forget. He used to say, look for three things in the person you will marry. Firstly, let them fear God. One who fears God cannot do evil in secret. Secondly, let them be ashamed before people. One who is ashamed before people will not do evil openly. Thirdly, let them not be stubborn. He would say these three are enough. Don't look for anything else. Why is stubbornness important? Because stubborn people have ego and rigidity of thought. They are closed to new experiences. Indeed, most stubborn people are narcissists. They only focus on goals and innovations. They approach things egoistically and selfishly. They close themselves off to innovations that aim at self-development. That is why it is not right to even be friends with narcissistic people; they harm others.”
“The training of the prefrontal cortex is a lifelong process”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, stating that the prefrontal cortex creates the balance between logic and emotions, spoke about its developmental process. Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said; “Our left brain performs logic, reasoning, analysis, speech, and calculation. Our right brain processes emotions, excitements, and feelings related to music and art. The prefrontal cortex maintains this balance. So, developing the prefrontal cortex actually makes us human. The training of the prefrontal cortex is a lifelong process. It affects our decisions. There is a mental jury in front of our brain. It is necessary to develop this mental jury. Training the mental jury is actually nothing but training ourselves. That is why, currently, someone who does not have rigidity of thought and is open to self-renewal can easily acquire a lot of information and find the truth more easily. For this reason, we can say that we are in a more advantageous position compared to past generations.”