Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan participated in an online interview titled “The Meaning and Purpose of Life in Difficult Times” organized by Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi. Tarhan stated that one of the biggest reasons for difficult times is the problem of death. Tarhan noted that techniques other than third-generation psychotherapies cannot provide an explanation and meaning for death; “The reality of death is a fact everyone will face. But currently, all techniques other than third-generation psychotherapies cannot provide an explanation and meaning for death. Why should a person live hopefully knowing they will die? These approaches do not satisfy people. Because humans have a search for meaning and a need for consolation.” he said.
“Difficult times have a ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’ dimension”
Tarhan stated that we can approach the calamities that occur in life from two different perspectives, and that ‘the search for meaning’ is one of the biggest characteristics that distinguish humans from other living beings. Tarhan; “Difficult times experienced in human life have two different aspects. The first characteristic of difficult times is the danger dimension, and the other is the opportunity dimension. If you focus on the danger dimension of events that occur, you will suffer the pain of difficult times. If you learn lessons from the danger dimension, take the right position against it, and then focus on the opportunity, difficult times lead to new beginnings. They become a kind of incubation. For example, during the pandemic, our physical comfort was disrupted; we could no longer move as we wished. Similar situations were experienced during the earthquake. On one hand, human life was restricted, and we began to think more about death. Death is a bitter truth, and we started thinking about it more. These are all difficult times. More than the calamity experienced in difficult times, what stresses people are the events they experience, uncertainty, unknown, and loneliness. With the combination of all these, the pain of difficult times, which was one, increases fivefold with uncertainty, the unknown, and loneliness. But if uncertainty decreases, the unknown decreases, and a person feels they are not alone in such situations, the pain of difficult times will subside somewhat. Victor Frankl says, ‘The purpose of a human being’s life is to pursue meaning.’ This is not a very new idea. It goes back to Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. There, happiness is defined in two ways. One is hedonistic happiness, as Freud said, and the other is happiness gained by seeking meaning. The search for meaning in humans originates from the metacognitive gene, which is not present in other living beings. Thanks to these metacognitive, or meta-mind genes, humans seek meaning and reason in everything. Through this search, humans can find the meaning that explains death.” he said.
“Events that occur have a visible and an invisible side”
Tarhan stated that just as events have visible causes, they can also have some invisible causes, drawing attention to the true causes, or the wisdom aspect of events. Tarhan; “Events have a visible side and an invisible side. The invisible side of events is the wisdom aspect. God has placed road signs in the universe, just as traffic signs guide the way, to find Himself. If you follow the road signs, you will reach your destination. When we look at the universe, all the arrow signs are flowers, insects, electrons, DNA, and the universe. In all of them, there seems to be a common signature, as if they came from a single hand. When you look at the universe, you say there is incredible knowledge, a very grand design. Even design is not enough; you say there is calculation, mathematics. Then you look, and you say there is energy, there is physics. Then there is matter, atoms, subatomic particles, chemistry, biology. Along with all these, quantum physics told us something that classical materialism did not. Classical materialism used to say that matter came first. But now, after quantum physics, it is understood that information comes first, then matter. First design, then matter. Currently, in America, by court order, many schools teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. That is why, in my book 'Bilgelik Psikolojisi' (Psychology of Wisdom), I conveyed that when the universe is viewed from the perspective of quantum physics, it is seen as an an intelligent design. If there is intelligent design, there is a designer; there is a designer who does not show himself, a designer who is not of the nature of matter.” he stated.
“Psychotherapy techniques that cannot explain death do not satisfy people”
Tarhan stated that techniques other than third-generation psychotherapies cannot provide an explanation and meaning for death, underlining that these approaches do not satisfy people. Tarhan said, “People of this era have two important diseases that keep them from finding the truth: ‘Narcissism and worldliness.’ Modern humans sacralize themselves; narcissism is when a person sees themselves as a god on earth, inflates their ego, and thinks they will not die. The second is worldliness, meaning seeing life as solely confined to this worldly life. When one overcomes these two prejudices, they will seek the truth. If a person is not seeking the truth, they must first question themselves. ‘Why did I come to life? What is the meaning of life? Everything you possess will one day come and go. Look, my loved ones have died.’ they will think. The reality of death is a fact everyone will face. One can face the reality of death and calamity. But currently, you see that all psychological techniques other than third-generation psychotherapies cannot provide an explanation and meaning for death. Why should a person live hopefully knowing they will die? These approaches do not satisfy people. Because humans have a search for meaning and a need for consolation. Experiments conducted on Buddhist monks and Mevlevis show that the reactions occurring in the brain prove humanity's demand for eternity and the consolation provided by belief. The consolation provided by faith, that consolation provided by integration with God, is the greatest proof of God's existence. God grants inner peace in advance to those who believe and surrender to Him; in Positive Psychology, this is called ‘authentic happiness.’ Authentic happiness is being able to be happy in any environment. Being like a tree that bears fruit in all four seasons. This happiness is considered pure happiness. Only a believer achieves this happiness.” he stated.
“Modernism placed the feeling of satisfaction at the center of life”
Tarhan emphasized that emotional intelligence studies gained momentum in the world after the complications of modernism, and that modernism prioritized the feeling of satisfaction in human life. Tarhan; “As a result of sexual identity disorders, open relationship marriages, and increased divorces, emotional intelligence studies began to be conducted. Movements like Mindfulness, which means managing emotions, have started. Currently, in a world where the balance of freedom and responsibility is disrupted, we are experiencing the complication of modernism in mental illnesses. Modernism exalted pleasure, sacralized it. It confined mental health to the body and ignored it. Panic disorder has become an epidemic. In the background of panic disorder lies the fear that a person's physical and mental integrity will be disrupted. In other words, the thought of losing control skills, the feeling of control, causes panic disorder. Exaggerating one's feeling of control is also, God forbid, a kind of stealing a role from God, assuming the role of God oneself. More important than the human search for meaning is the human search for satisfaction. Modernism placed the feeling of satisfaction at the center of life. There are two types of satisfaction: concrete satisfactions and abstract satisfactions. Concrete satisfactions are eating, drinking, sheltering, reproducing, that is, our level of satisfaction equal to other living beings. These are material and basic physiological satisfactions. Shared satisfactions with other living beings, but abstract satisfactions related to the meaning in life, mental satisfactions, distinguish humans from other living beings. The search for meaning, for example, is mental satisfaction. When one feels part of meaning, there is mental satisfaction, contentment, pleasure. At that moment, that person has all their desires met, all their needs satisfied, knows the meaning of life, knows the meaning behind the sufferings they experience, and when they see the course of this world, they know the captain of this world-ship. To cease to exist after death terrifies humans. Therefore, whoever grasps meaning achieves tremendous peace and mental satisfaction.” he said.