Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist-Author Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, met with his readers at the 41st TÜYAP International Book Fair held this year. Tarhan, who spoke under the title “Psychology Talks,” signed his books for his readers. Interest in Tarhan was quite intense during the talk and signing event. Tarhan, noting that brand propaganda is being carried out through the influence of social media, said; “Imperialism used to be carried out through coercion. Now, voluntary imperialism is at play. Popular culture imperialism is spreading more widely due to the influence of social media. They are controlling us through brand propaganda. All of these are brainwashing methods.”
The 41st International Istanbul Book Fair, held between November 2-10, brought together hundreds of authors with readers from Istanbul and surrounding cities, with the participation of over a thousand publishing houses and non-governmental organizations.
Initially, a talk titled “Psychology Talks” was held, moderated by journalist Şaban Özdemir. The interest of the participants in the talk, held in Marmara Hall, was quite intense.
“The real crisis to fear is the one within the family”
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, drawing attention to crises within the family, stated that healthy children cannot grow up in environments where there is no family. Tarhan said; “Wars in the world will now be psychological wars. Since this psychological warfare will be in the form of a war of ideas, public mental health will pay the price. We are currently missing the real agenda due to the political agenda. The real agenda is our family, our children, and our youth. There are serious risks regarding our children’s futures. Capital does not end itself; it somehow turns into investment, diminishes, and grows. In other words, the economy recovers itself after there is no war. The real crisis to fear is the one within the family. Healthy children cannot grow up in an environment where there is no family. Now, open marriages have increased. They call this modernity; they see it as freedom. However, freedom consists of two parts. The first part is one’s own freedom. The second part is the freedom not to harm others. Not harming others is also a freedom. There is a balance between freedom and responsibility. These can no longer be taught in society. At the very least, we have a responsibility to protect our own space, our own home, our loved ones, and our own relationships…”
“Capitalism is taking steps towards self-correction”
Speaking about the ideology of capitalism, Tarhan said; “Capitalism used to argue that humans are economic beings. It claimed that when people invest or spend their money, they always do so based on a cost-benefit analysis. However, in the 2000s, Kahneman, who received the award for behavioral economics, said, ‘Humans are not Homo economicus, but Homo psychologicus. Humans are psychological beings.’ Capitalism used to say, ‘Helping a person increases operating costs. Helping is wrong; giving charity is wrong. Let the strong survive, and the weak perish.’ This was the ideology of capitalism. Now it has started to temper itself. In other words, capitalism is taking steps towards self-correction.”
“Popular culture imperialism is spreading more widely due to the influence of social media”
Tarhan, noting that brand propaganda is being carried out through the influence of social media, said; “Imperialism used to be carried out through coercion. Now, voluntary imperialism is at play. Popular culture imperialism is spreading more widely due to the influence of social media. They are controlling us through brand propaganda. All of these are brainwashing methods. They are methods of cyber warfare. Those who do not comply will remain pure; those who do will be wasted away. To combat the traps brought by modernism, if more than 50% of society says ‘No’ to it, the problem will be solved. As people are educated, these will multiply. Good people will multiply and rectify this. Let’s not be hopeless and pessimistic…”
We will start changing the world with ourselves…
Tarhan, noting that people with low self-confidence possess arrogance, said; “There is a Chinese proverb that says, ‘If a person acts by blaming others, they have a long way to go. If they act by blaming themselves, they are halfway there, but if they proceed goal-oriented without blaming anyone, that person will reach their goal.’ We will start changing the world with ourselves. We will fix our inner selves. Every person has their own personality window in their outlook on life. There is a social communication window through which they connect with social life. If one's self-worth is low, they strain and hold themselves upright when looking through that window, moving stiffly. If their self-worth is higher, they look through that life window modestly. That is why people with low self-confidence act arrogantly. People with high self-confidence do not need arrogance. They naturally act humbly when establishing social relationships with their normal outlook. There are those who walk around whistling in a cemetery. You say, ‘What a brave man.’ In reality, he is fighting his inner fear. He is so scared that he whistles, trying to play the role of a brave person. Therefore, if you gather all evils into a room, arrogance opens its door, and lies open it.”
“Mid- and long-term investment is preventive mental health”
Tarhan emphasized the three stages of mental health treatments: “Primary prevention involves what needs to be done to prevent a person from falling ill. The scientific equivalent of this is positive psychology applications. A treasure lies upon our culture for preventive mental health. Secondary prevention is early diagnosis. Identifying risk groups is early diagnosis. Being able to treat before reaching the point of hospitalization, without requiring major treatments, is early diagnosis. Tertiary prevention is protection implemented to prevent recurrence after the illness has passed. Mid- and long-term investment is preventive mental health. Short-term investment is dealing with today’s treatment…”
“Sacralizing the individual is the ideology of the capitalist system”
Tarhan stated that as a person improves their inner world, they become a good example to their surroundings; “Yunus Emre says, ‘My journey was from myself to myself.’ As we mend the journey within our inner world, we unknowingly become good examples to our children and our environment. This is a difficult journey, of course. For a person to self-criticize, to question themselves, is not something everyone can easily achieve. Psychology has only recently begun to accept this. Before that, it was said, ‘Family is not important, you are important, just live your life, the individual is sacred, the family is not sacred.’ Both the individual and the family are mechanisms. So, if one is sacred, both are sacred; if not, neither is. In other words, sacralizing the individual is the ideology of the capitalist system.”
“The biggest jury in the world is the 'what will people say' jury…”
Answering questions from participants, Tarhan offered the following advice regarding marriage: “Before getting married, open your eyes wide; after marriage, open them halfway. Marriage is the most suitable life for human nature. Sexuality is biological, but marriage is cultural. Marriage is a sphere of trust. You will experience difficulties, and you will overcome them. The high economic expectations of this era make people step back. Both parties must have the same expectations. Both parties should be able to find happiness in small things; if they succeed in this, it is impossible for couples not to be happy. The biggest enemy of marriage is greed. The biggest jury in the world is the 'what will people say' jury. One needs to ignore the 'what will people say' jury. What is important is the agreement between spouses. Do not be afraid of marriage at all.”
“True freedom is to be free from desires and impulses”
Tarhan stated that goal-oriented detail brings success; “Procrastination occurs in people with high levels of perfectionism. So, as one progresses in life, is success in the details, or is the devil in the details? Perfectionists say success is in the details. For example, if a person going somewhere desires something along the way and delays, it delays them from reaching their destination. However, if they pay attention to goal-oriented details, it leads to success, but if they allocate time to non-goal-oriented details, they cannot manage their time. In other words, someone who manages their time prevents the weakness of procrastination. For example, when you stray from a goal while working, we say, ‘Remember why you are working. Remember why you are doing this, remember your purpose.’ People can overcome feelings like laziness and idleness. Therefore, one must also say no to oneself. True freedom is not breaking down walls, breaking chains, or living a wild life. True freedom is being able to be free from desires and impulses. We all have distracting emotions. These emotions lead to laziness. Past generations matured in scarcity. Current generations are maturing in abundance. Maturing in abundance is more difficult.”
Long queues formed at the book signing event…
Following the widely attended and highly anticipated talk, author Tarhan signed his books for his readers in the book signing hall.
Readers who had their books signed by Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also had the opportunity to chat and take photos with Tarhan.