Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan participated as a speaker in the 12th meeting of the “Meeting Events with Ministry of National Education Scholarship Holders Abroad” organized by the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Higher Education and Education Abroad. The program, themed ‘Global Loneliness, Psychological Resilience and the Science of Happiness’, was held online. Tarhan, touching upon the effects of modernism on psychological resilience, said; “When people cannot be happy, they commit suicide. The feeling of 'I have tasted all the pleasures in life, there is nothing left to taste' leads to suicide. Solutions cannot be produced with a psycho-social perspective for a society where unhappiness has become so widespread. With the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw that humanity needed to be reset. We need to appreciate what we have.”
“If we take the right position, we will catch the future”
Emphasizing the importance of adapting to new developments in the world, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said; “One of the latest developments in psychological sciences, for example, is the digital revolution. Today, we will address post-pandemic psychiatric diseases after Covid-19. There is a significant occupancy rate in polyclinics and hospitals worldwide, a global upheaval is being experienced. Some even call this the ‘Great Reset’. The world has entered a major reset. There will be new normals, and many things will be restructured. Will we be able to stand firm against the winds of time? This is very important. When asked, ‘What makes a kite fly?’, the classic answer given is, ‘The wind makes the kite fly’. However, it is not the wind that makes the kite fly, but its position against the wind. If it takes the wrong position, it will tumble down. Currently, the digital transformation and coronavirus pandemic in the world are a strong wind. If we take the right position in this wind, we will stand firm and continue on our path. Indeed, this is exactly what we would define as psychological resilience. Life, unfortunately, does not go as we plan, but as it unfolds before us. Therefore, our choices are not sufficient. In such situations, it is necessary to look at old psychological theories and current psychological theories and make a very good distinction between them. If we take the right position, we will catch the future.”
“The world is heading towards a new phase, there is a new youth”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that technological developments should be evaluated socially by exemplifying them with ongoing studies; “Currently, there are super developments in technology in the world. However, there are no similar developments in human relationships and sociality. There are more people on social media, but no friends. There is less humanity. Bigger televisions, fewer books. Expensive watches, but no time. More doubt, less trust; more discrimination, less sympathy. There is more material prosperity, but no peace. Big houses, small families; advanced medicines, insufficient health; going to the moon, not knowing one's neighbor; high income, less peace; high intelligence, less sleep; good information, less virtue; countless relationships, but zero true love. There is a social media reality concerning young people. A statistic was made on this subject in the USA. Serious work has been done on this subject since 1910. Statistics are being collected on 8th and 12th-grade students' daily face-to-face interactions. After 2010, social contact and physical contact among students decreased. These rates indicate that the world is moving towards a new phase, there is a new youth. Between 1950-2000, the gross national product increased from 20 thousand dollars to 35 thousand dollars. However, the proportion of those who say 'I am very happy' remained roughly the same, or even decreased. Americans have a saying about this: 'Money cannot buy happiness and bliss'. Statistics in Turkey also confirm this statement. This means that an increase in material prosperity is not enough to increase spiritual well-being and for individuals to feel in a state of goodness,” he said.
“When we do not increase benevolent behaviors, malevolence spreads spontaneously”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the meaning attributed to the concept of death can vary according to one's perspective; “Entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, is one of the laws of physics. It is divided into two forms: social entropy and behavioral entropy. Just as light and darkness are in balance, and the universe moves from an ordered state to a disordered state – like a room cooling if we don't heat it – there is also an entropy between good and evil. When we do not increase benevolent behaviors, malevolence immediately spreads spontaneously. In fact, being a good person and doing good is not a virtue. It is the obligation of our humanity. In Islam, when one is a bad person, it harms the codes of one's existence. Above the brain is the mind, and it is debated that above the mind is quantum consciousness. There is a book titled ‘What The Bleep?’ published by İnkılap Yayınları in Turkey. There, a quantum physicist, a theologian, and a psychiatrist sat discussing consciousness. Currently, humans are subjective observers, and this observation ends when they die. Therefore, in the branch of science we call Thanatology concerning death, death is a continuation of this life. Our fears of death are our choices. The meaning given to death is in our hands,” he said.
“We need to appreciate what we have”
Tarhan, stating that there has been a significant increase in suicide rates worldwide, touched upon the new realities emerging after Covid-19. Tarhan said; “In a job one loves, a person does not get tired; on the contrary, it adds meaning. The pleasure offered by modernism is not happiness. Pleasure is chasing speed. Today, this concept is considered an ego ideal. Those who hang out with friends every day have a fake happiness. When people cannot be happy, they commit suicide anyway. They say, 'I have tasted all the pleasures in life, there is nothing left to taste,' and commit suicide. In England, the number of people aged 16-24 who commit suicide or die is higher than those who die in train accidents. Therefore, a society where unhappiness is so widespread cannot produce solutions with psycho-social approaches. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this for us. We seriously need to reset ourselves. Humanity truly needs to be reset; we need to appreciate what we have. With the Covid-19 pandemic, he saw that humanity needed to be reset… Important steps are being taken in the field of education for the construction of Turkey. We need to be like bees. We will synthesize information obtained from our own land with information from abroad. We will produce new things,” he said.