Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan's 'Psychological Conversations from Existence to the Search for Meaning', organized by the Conscience of the Age Club with the support of Üsküdar University Health, Culture and Sports Department, continues from where it left off. In this week's program, Tarhan drew attention to the words Saika and Şaika, stating; “Actually, the Saika system directs, the reward-punishment system is the Şaika system, which is also the mirror neuron system in our brain. Mirror neurons receive strong emotions from the other person's brain and react, taking action, according to those strong emotions. Saika is very similar to the reward-punishment system in the brain.” he said.
“Life is currently the most important secret”
Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, noting that there is a hierarchy of biological sciences that constitute life in scientific research on life, said: “Life is currently the most important secret. In scientific research related to this, there is a hierarchy of biological sciences that constitute life. First, at the head of the sciences, there is calculation, which is mathematics. There is measure and calculation in everything. Then comes design. That is, there is algebra. After that, there is geometry, then design, then physics, which is energy. When you add energy, it becomes physics. Then matter is added. It becomes chemistry. Then life is added, it becomes a living thing. When life is added on top of previous knowledge, on top of design, physics, and chemistry, it becomes alive. The first known living organisms are algae. Even in algae, known as the simplest and most primitive living organism, there is DNA similar to fifty to sixty percent of human DNA. Biology means the science of life. Matter transforms into life. What are inorganic substances? Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen. Inorganic substances then transform into organic substances. What are organic substances? Carbohydrates, proteins, and the like. That is, the substances that form tissues in living beings, inorganic substances, and in the formation of inorganic substances, there is also the benzene ring, for example, in carbohydrates, all proteins are hexagonal in shape.”
“The perfection of the body is through life”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, referring to existence finding its perfection through life, stated that otherwise, life would merely be a pile of matter. Tarhan said: “The perfection of the body is through life. There are organic substances, there are inorganic substances. Its transformation into life begins with the cell. Existence finds perfection with life; otherwise, it would merely be a pile of matter. What we call soil, let's take a handful of soil from a field, one-third of that soil is bacteria. One-third of the soil is microbes, bacteria, living organisms. We take soil in our hands and see it as lifeless. No, two-thirds of it are alive and they produce nitrogen and so on. They are the ones that produce nitrogen in plants. For example, there was climate change, perhaps a very rare event in history; it snowed in the Sahara Desert. They even did a simulation. They made a mathematical model to see what would happen to solar energy in the world if the entire Sahara Desert were converted into solar energy. Solar energy from the Sahara Desert largely meets the world's energy needs. But the Amazon forests are disappearing. Why? Dust from the Sahara Desert goes to the Amazon Forests and becomes fertilizer. There is a tremendous balance. You disrupt the balance. Currently, they are studying this in computational biology. ‘If we do this, what will happen?’ they ask. Random, purposeless growth – now they have realized that technology will destroy humanity.”
“Life is the light of the body”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, emphasizing that when there is life, the perfections in our body become understandable, said: “We cannot understand the subject of life without deciphering a cell. The perfection of the body is through life. When there is life, the perfections in our body become understandable. There wasn't this much cell knowledge before. Only the microscope was invented, there is a microscope. The existence of the cell is known, but its importance in life functions to this extent was not widely known. It's a tremendous thing to attribute the qualities of life and perfection. A big, high-level perspective is needed. Life is the light of the body. What does light do? It illuminates. Life suddenly makes existence visible. Suddenly, something called life enters, and what we saw as pitch black becomes enlightened. That is, currently, the largest matter in the universe is dark matter, over ninety percent. There is a substance called dark matter. We only see five percent, according to some views, ten percent, but what we called atoms – the world, the universe, matter – was said to be composed of atoms. That information has now been abandoned. It is not composed of atoms; it is composed of dark matter. There is dark matter. Atoms are the part we can see, the part where life manifests. Because there is life even in the atom.”
Continuation of the five senses: Saika and Şaika
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan provided information about the words Saika and Şaika, stating: “We turn towards what gives us pleasure. What gives us pleasure is the reward-punishment system. The Saika and Şaika systems. Actually, the Saika system directs, and the reward-punishment system is the Şaika system, which is also the mirror neuron system in our brain. What do mirror neurons do? They receive strong emotions from the other person's brain and react, taking action, according to those strong emotions. Saika is very similar to the reward-punishment system in the brain. Şaika is also similar to the mirror neuron system in our brain. Both of these work like one of the five senses. It was previously known that these two emotions worked in a closed circuit. Here, Bediüzzaman Hazretleri states that these are a continuation of the five senses. He called one Saika and the other Şaika. When the reward-punishment system works in our brain, the brains of the other party also get activated and perceive it. And they turn towards it. You get convinced. The Şaika system also activates emotions accordingly. One activates pleasures, the other activates feelings.”
“There is a software in biological systems”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, mentioning that there is a software in biological systems, said: “Electricity is needed for a radio to work, isn't it? But if you supply electricity to the radio, and there isn't a conversion transformer inside the radio to convert electrical waves into sound waves, it will just heat up and become a cooling machine, which is its natural job. It burns. So, electricity enters the radio. Life makes the radio operate. It makes it operate well. The electromagnetic waves inside it, and the conversion of sound waves into electrical waves, actually make it a good spirit there. So, between spirit and life, in humans too, life makes us alive, but our attributing meaning to life and turning it into software forms our spirit. Cells give us biological systems, but there is software in biological systems. Spirit software. That makes humans soulful, conscious, and intelligent.”