Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Üsküdar Üniversitesi, was a live guest on the “İftar Vakti” program, presented by Mehmet Ali Kayacı and broadcast on TV5. Making evaluations under the title ‘Ramadan and Its Psychological Impact,’ Tarhan pointed out that if a person does not cleanse their inner world with good and noble goals, evils will spread spontaneously. Stating that setting an intention is the first step, Tarhan said; “Intention is very important in setting goals. You will intend, ‘Will I be among the benevolent or the malevolent?’ Our brain is an organ that programs itself according to that intention. If we do not cleanse our inner world with good and noble goals, benevolent feelings, benevolent values, and benevolent education, evil spreads spontaneously. The rate of spread of negative is many times faster than positive.”
“Humans are the only living beings that evolve and develop through knowledge”
Making evaluations in the context of human construction, using the metaphor of building construction and raising a person, Tarhan stated that humans are the only living beings that demonstrate development. Tarhan; “In the construction of a building, there is first an idea, a project idea. In the second stage, there is knowledge and science. After that, design is made, a target is set, boundaries are drawn, a roadmap is created, a project is drawn, and a goal is determined. While doing this, care is taken to do the right job in the right way in the right place. The construction of a human is also like this. Just as resources, i.e., materials, are important in construction, humans also need resources related to learning. When problems are encountered, problem-solving methods need to be developed. Initially, a lot of thought is put into the project, and once the project is ready, construction is fast. Now, returning to humans, a human child is born psychologically premature, unlike the offspring of other living beings. That is, they are born early, like a 7-month-old baby… Psychologically, even a normal birth is premature. What is normal? Normally, an animal, a duck for example, dives into the water as soon as it is born. They are born having learned, but humans are born to learn, they learn everything in the world, they learn the characteristics that make them human in this world. However, humans are not born as a blank slate. Humans are born as a magnificent cluster of talents, ready, hungry, and evolving with knowledge. Humans are the only living beings that evolve and develop through knowledge. Humans have a gene for seeking novelty. But if they cannot find a suitable environment, they decay, which is why humans need to be put into a climate of possibilities.”
“Humans have no power outside of their choice”
Tarhan stated that the most important thing in human construction is the construction of emotion, emphasizing that humans are the only living beings capable of choosing between good and evil through emotional reasoning methods. Tarhan; “In the 21st century, with neuroscience, our new space, our new area of discovery, is the human brain. In fact, when we embark on an inner journey of discovery, we first need to discover our brain. Our brain is a piece of flesh and fat, but there is consciousness on our brain, and without the brain, that consciousness cannot express itself. Similarly, without our brain, the soul cannot express itself. There is a developing structure in the human brain. While building our personality, we are actually using the infrastructure in our brain, building upon it. The most important thing in human construction is the construction of emotion. Allah has given humans an ego that other living beings do not possess. This opens a tremendous window for humans, allowing them to communicate with Allah and also to rebel against Allah. To build ourselves, we first need to dream; the work begins with dreams. When you restrict dreams, construction regresses; children's playing is their biggest dream, and it needs to be supported. Without dreaming, a person cannot produce mentally, cannot build personality. Humans learn through reasoning methods, and there are also emotional reasoning methods; humans have an infinite tendency towards good and infinite evil. We make choices between the two with the decisions we make. Humans have no power outside of their choice; Allah gives us that permission with His knowledge, but when making decisions, one should not decide with the feeling of ego.”
“Our lives are becoming materially easier, but we cannot elevate our human qualities in parallel”
Tarhan stated that our lives are made easier with modernism and that we have more information, emphasizing that while material opportunities improve, spiritual and human qualities do not rise in parallel. Tarhan; “What will activate the written text, what will turn it into action, is emotion. That is why if the mind and heart unite, you can reach the goal. Reason alone is not enough, and the heart alone is not useful. If we want to reach a goal, we will strengthen these two emotions. What activates emotions is the feeling of hope and compassion. When there is only reason, there is knowledge, but a person, forgive me, would be no different from an animal carrying books on its back. There are emotions that a person can control, within their power. A person needs to be eternal with Allah, sustainable, inexhaustible. This can only happen if you connect with an infinite value. If you connect with an infinite value and power, you will not fall into despair. Now we are becoming more civilized, but are we losing our humanity? Our lives are becoming easier, we have more information, but we cannot elevate our human qualities in parallel. This questioning of modernism shows that humanity is developing materially, welfare levels are rising, but spiritual well-being is not increasing.”
“If a person doesn't cleanse their inner world with good goals, evils will spread spontaneously”
Tarhan pointed out that if a person does not cleanse their inner world with good and noble goals, benevolent feelings, values, and benevolent education, evils will spread spontaneously, stating that setting an intention is the first step. Tarhan; “Intention is very important in setting goals. You will intend, ‘Will I be among the benevolent or the malevolent?’ Our brain is an organ that programs itself according to that intention. Humans can make decisions on opposite poles, like light-dark, hot-cold. For example, there is no such thing as darkness, there is the absence of light. There is no cold, there is the absence of heat. Similarly, there is no evil, there is the absence of goodness. When we increase goodness, evil spontaneously decreases. According to the law of entropy in the universe, the universe is moving from order to disorder. The universe is heading towards heat death, it will extinguish. Constant control is needed from outside according to that law of entropy; for example, if we don't tidy our home garden, it will become a dump after a few months. Similarly, if we do not cleanse our inner world with good and noble goals, benevolent feelings, benevolent values, and benevolent education, evil spreads spontaneously. The rate of spread of evil is six times faster than goodness. The rate of spread of negative is many times faster than positive. In humans, distractions arise spontaneously when mistakes are made, spreading like a virus, but effort is required to do good.”
“The Prophet is the best role model”
Tarhan stated that the world's biggest problems are ‘hedonism, loneliness, and self-centeredness,’ and that the solution to this globalizing issue is ‘to determine a correct role model’. Tarhan; “Today, there is a global climate of freedom and questioning for global problems. In a world where communication is rapidly accelerating, instead of resisting this and retreating, it is necessary to be among the people with the people. Our aim should be how clean we can keep our own area. ‘Hedonism,’ that is, pursuing pleasure, is one of the most important characteristics of this era. In individuals who make the pursuit of pleasure a philosophy of life, ‘self-centeredness’ emerges. When their children turn 18, they can say, ‘My responsibility for you is over, do what you have to do!’ and leave them. These examples were once marginal but have recently started to become widespread. Thirdly, ‘loneliness’ emerges. Currently, loneliness is modernism's biggest nightmare. In a loneliness study, 27% of people over 75 years old say they are very lonely, while 40% of people aged 16-24 state that they are very lonely. For this reason, suicides among young people have increased significantly. For the reconstruction of humanity, we need to choose the right human model as a goal. The human model goal needs to be a role model. The best role model that can be an example in human values is the Messenger of Allah. Let us take his human aspect as a role model, bring him to this age, and live by him under the conditions of this age. Let us dress the Messenger of Allah in the clothes of this age. Let us have him use the technology of this age. After that, the Prophetic culture will spread very easily.”
Reporter: Esmanur Tuna