With the support of Üsküdar Üniversitesi's Health, Culture and Sports Department, the 'Psychological Conversations from Existence to the Search for Meaning' series, organized by the Conscience of the Age Club, continues with Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan. Tarhan emphasized that idleness is currently the greatest danger facing people; "Idleness prevents human development, assertiveness, and entrepreneurship. For a person to achieve something, they need to motivate themselves. When there is a purpose, a need arises. Lack of purpose pushes people towards idleness and monotony."
"The opportunity to do wrong must also exist for freedom to be tested"
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated; "For freedom to be tested, the opportunity to do wrong must also exist. God sent humans to this world and gave them free will. He wants to test free will. To test this, there must also be the freedom to do wrong. If an individual always does what is right because they cannot do wrong, then that individual is not free. If always doing what is right stems from not being able to do wrong, as is the case with angels, for instance. Because they cannot do wrong, they are angels, but humans are born with the potential to do both right and wrong. They choose one of the two. Having the freedom to do wrong is what shows an individual is free. That's why God has given humans the freedom to defy Him, to object to Him, and to do the exact opposite. Why has He given this? He says, 'This is not contrary to the proposition that an omnipotent, omniscient being is purely good.' He says, 'This is not about creating or not creating something capable of evil.' He creates to test freedom. He creates to test freedom. Does one use freedom for good or for evil? If one uses it for good, one will receive a much better, beautiful place. Freedom here does not lead us to wrong, it is something that provides the right to reveal the truth more."
"Those who can educate their emotions win"
Tarhan, mentioning that people who cannot educate their emotions harm both themselves and those they interact with, said; "There are no limits. Greed, insatiability, and irresponsibility, while seeking more satisfaction and becoming more demanding, actually constitute one's weak side. Therefore, excessive desire feeds its opposite, and excessive desire turns into a weakness. It leads to mistakes. For example, you are waiting at a bus stop. You say, 'Let the bus come, let it come.' You get bored, you leave, and then the bus comes from behind. See, it teaches the wisdom of whether you can control your excessive desire, whether you can educate yourself regarding this, at a moment when excessive desire is your weakness. Almost all religions emphasize the ability to temper ambition and desires. There is the ability to curb such malevolent emotions. There is the ability to educate wild emotions. That's why those who can educate these emotions win. Those who cannot harm themselves and those they interact with, and they lose the test."
"The greatest danger facing people right now is idleness"
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan underlined the importance of people needing to motivate themselves to do something; "Currently, the greatest danger facing people is idleness. Idleness prevents human development, assertiveness, and entrepreneurship. This is a kind of 'non-existence, nothingness.' Nothingness, uncertainty, and unknowability are the three issues and feelings that pressure the human soul. See, nothingness, that is, non-existence, uncertainty, and unknowability. These three issues are something that greatly distresses the human soul. It's like walking in a dark forest, not knowing where, which path, or which monster will appear. There is unknowability, there is uncertainty, and in the end, there is nothingness, non-existence. There is death. Life, this worldly life, we are in a dead life. Death can come at any moment. To live as if nothing exists in such a situation is to deceive ourselves. Movement and change are the body, change is the body. If there were no calamities, no illnesses, no troubles, humans would become beings that just eat, drink, and multiply like other animals. However, humans get cold, shiver, get sick, find remedies, all these things help humans evolve. It leads to perfection, to excellence. If there were no illnesses, would medicine have advanced this much? For a person to achieve something, they need to motivate themselves. Inertia is not motivating oneself. To motivate oneself, one must first have a purpose. When there is a purpose, a need arises. Lack of purpose pushes people towards idleness and monotony. It pushes them to sit idly. An active person gets moving, but action requires stirring things up. Constant intervention like this is needed," he stated.
"Lazy people drag society down"
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan spoke about the necessity for people to work and produce. Tarhan said; "Not leaving one's comfort zone drags people down. We currently live in a habitat, an ecosystem, within the university or our society. In this ecosystem, those who work pull it up, move it forward, while those who don't work drag it down. Therefore, non-working people, lazy people, drag society down. That's why early retirement is always a loss, not recommended. It is not about the level of development. That is, people need to work, to produce. The more working and producing people there are in a society, the more that society stands strong, produces, and does not depend on others. I mean, we also have early retirement, but a person who retires early definitely works a second job. So, it's not real retirement for us. Therefore, idleness here drags people down, hinders progress, hinders development."
“Mistakes and evils are a part of perfection”
Tarhan emphasized the necessity of mistakes and evils for perfection to emerge; "Mistakes and evils are a part of perfection. Mistakes and evils are necessary for perfection to emerge; without them, one cannot develop. That is, talents cannot sprout, cannot emerge. He talks about hidden talents elsewhere, you throw a handful of seeds into the soil, 10%, 20% sprout, the other 80% rot. But that 10% sprouts, new wheat becomes of them, new millet becomes of them. Part of your investment yields more than before, it is called waste or loss. Everything has a loss. This law of psychology states that there is no business without loss, there is always a loss. Here too, in life, working with good and bad... Look at animal kingdoms, for example, the old and lazy ones are left behind and become prey for lions, but the young and diligent ones survive. Therefore, being active, being in motion, being able to motivate oneself is motivation. There are two kinds of motivation: one is internal motivation, the other is external motivation. Calamities, illnesses are external motivations. If someone has internal motivation, that is, if they do good, right, and beautiful things on their own without a disaster, calamity, or illness striking, why would God send them a calamity? That person already has internal motivation, they do it on their own, so there is no need for warning."