“There is no intellectual birth without intellectual pain. A discovery certainly does not emerge without mental rebellion, without mental objection,” said Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, evaluating, “Today’s youth’s intellectual crisis usually takes the form of existential questioning.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan: “There is a conceptual chaos among young people. There are young people who specifically discuss deism, atheism, and agnosticism.”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, evaluated the issue of intellectual crisis in youth (Deism, Atheism, Existential Problem).
“Intellectual questioning is at high school level…”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that intellectual crisis emerges when questioning and thinking individuals cannot easily adapt to societal norms, adding, “Intellectual individuals analyze by questioning. An intellectual person digests and adds their own interpretation. We are in such an era. Currently, intellectual questioning is at the high school level.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan explained that intellectual individuals question and analyze information and convey it by adding their own interpretations. He added that during this process, the questioning of intellectual individuals might lead them to encounter challenging and complex questions, which can sometimes lead to crisis.
Intellectual pain is necessary for intellectual birth!
Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “If a person finds the truth, intellectual crisis leads to the birth of new ideas, discovery, entrepreneurship, and innovation in that person. There is no intellectual birth without intellectual pain. A discovery certainly does not emerge without mental rebellion, without mental objection. Pains are things that change behaviors.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also stated that young people's ability to express their ideas freely and exchange thoughts contributes to the development of society, saying, “Many schools of psychology have called youth a ‘normal schizophrenic period.’ That is how questioning and defiant they are. This is beneficial for them in terms of understanding life, enabling development, and change. When suppressed, young people and that society fall behind. Instead of suppressing them, they need to be able to express themselves.”
The intellectual crisis of youth usually takes the form of existential questioning…
“Today’s youth’s intellectual crisis usually takes the form of existential questioning,” said Prof. Dr. Tarhan, continuing:
“When we look, there is a conceptual chaos among young people. There are young people who specifically discuss deism, atheism, and agnosticism. Deism says, ‘God exists but does not interfere in life.’ Atheism is the belief that God and religions do not exist. These used to occur among uneducated, uninformed people in society, 100 years ago. But now they occur among questioning, educated people. In such situations, it requires explaining the answer with scientific reference, giving an answer. I have observed something. A significant portion of individuals who are deist, atheist, or agnostic are reactive. They are alienated, pushed away from religion. Reactive atheism develops in such people. We are in an era where there is a chaos of thought.”
“They see science as religion. However, science is not religion”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that there is a discourse about a movement that rejects the existence of the Creator, life after death, and the understanding of religion and morality, reducing life solely to this world, saying, “The understanding of values in people is reduced only to reason and nature. There is an approach that there is no understanding of values outside of reason and nature. They see science as religion. However, science is not religion. Science is not a point of being, it is a journey. Science is a continuous search, an understanding of truth. Religion has now entered the realm of science. Religion is also within the scope of science. For this reason, if we approach this issue in a polarized manner, we cannot find the truth. In the pursuit of truth, we must act with knowledge and data. Here, reason will be our most important guide.”
Noting that there are 4,300 religions in the world, Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “Humanity has a need for religion, a need to believe. People have a desire for infinity, a longing for immortality. If a person approaches with methods of reasoning, they will find the truth. If life were only about this world, everything would be very meaningless.”
It can be seen as boring and restrictive of freedom…
Prof. Dr. Tarhan pointed out that young people can perceive the traditional understanding of religion as boring and restrictive of freedom, thus turning towards reactive atheism, saying, “They accept science as religion. They accept activities like football, music, and social media as if they were rituals.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan also noted that young people's need to be valued by family and society, their desire for originality, and their tendency to turn against religion when not accepted are increasing, stating, “The greatest psychological need of young people is to be valued. It is the need for originality, for understanding. When these are not met, they turn to the exact opposite of what the family and society value.”
“If purity is preserved, young people will not become alienated from religion…”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan expressed that the main goal of religion is to gain divine approval and that this purity should be preserved, saying, “Religious people should not commercialize religion, they should not politicize it. They should not even secularize religion. By not secularizing, I mean it should not be used even for worldly purposes. The main goal of religion is to gain divine approval. When this purity is preserved, the likelihood of young people being intimidated or alienated from religion decreases. We can explain the truth to young people not by frightening them, but by conviction, belief, and love.”
“There is nothing contrary to reason in religion”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan noted that there is nothing contrary to reason in religion, saying, “People have a very wrong conception of God in their minds.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that with the increase in secularist tendencies globally, the view that worldly life has an all-encompassing importance has risen, and said that Atheism and Deism are also beliefs, and religions can lead to the sanctification of everything that is not questioned.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan expressed that the Holy Quran is reasonable, saying, “First, one needs to resolve the questions about the existence of God in one's mind. After resolving that, a person has a need for morality. There is a search for meaning. Because morality is not genetic in humans. It is learned later. We do not have a gene related to being moral. But it has a biological counterpart in the brain.”
Verifiability is not enough, falsifiability is also needed…
Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “One needs to ask if there is a reactive anti-religion, reactive atheism, or deism among young people. One needs to consider whether you are a person who has been alienated, distanced, or frightened away from religion. To be an atheist, the non-existence of God needs to be proven. The non-existence of God cannot be proven. Because verifiability is not enough; falsifiability is also needed. In the thesis developed regarding reasoning methods, verifiability was always mentioned before. Now, it also needs to be proven that falsifiability does not exist.”