President of Üsküdar University and psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan took part in the “Vizyoner'25” program organized by the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) with the theme “Connectivity: Order-Disorder-Reorder.” Tarhan made important evaluations in the context of digitalization, artificial intelligence, and cultural transformation. Stating that a new civilization ontology is being born, Tarhan drew attention to the concept of connectivity, emphasizing that artificial intelligence will strengthen social and cultural connections just like the stone roads of Rome. Pointing out that Anatolian wisdom and an East-West synthesis can be guiding forces against the internal decay of modernism, Tarhan said that, through the concept of exploratory hopelessness, crises will pave the way for new awakenings and resurrections.
Many leading experts attended the program held at Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM).
Within the scope of the program, a culture panel was held with the participation of President of Üsküdar University and psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, actor and director Reshad Strik, artist and academic Naoki Yamamoto, and journalist Arwa Damon.
The panel, which examined digitalization, cultural interactions, and the transformation of social structure, was moderated by Züleyha Ortak.
“Culture across the whole world is being reset”
Speaking at the panel, psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said that an ontology of civilization indicated by both science and philosophy is now emerging and continued: “It is now called the Digital New World Order. There is a global reset, a cultural reset. At this moment, culture across the whole world is being reset. This is such a situation that in the future it will build a new culture and a new civilization. In other words, a new civilization ontology is being born. An ontology of civilization that both science and philosophy point to is emerging. In such a situation, I would like to compare artificial intelligence with the stone roads of Rome. Rome had stone roads. It was said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ Thanks to these stone roads, Rome maintained social mobility, economic mobility, monetary mobility, and all its military mobility. For centuries, it sustained what we call Pax Romana, the single state order, the state of being the sole global superpower, through those roads. Across that entire geography from the Middle East to England. The technology of that time was stone roads. So what happened afterward? Later, an awakening and a resurrection began from Jerusalem.”
“We must not miss the artificial intelligence revolution”
Emphasizing the importance of an East-West synthesis, Tarhan said: “Artificial intelligence is bringing about a revolution in human history similar to the transformation brought by the printing press. We missed the Industrial Revolution, but we must not miss this artificial intelligence revolution. Because if we do, our voice will be incomplete in the world on behalf of humanity. If we achieve a mental transformation based on our past experiences, and if we can realize a past-future, East-West synthesis, our civilization geography will make a very great contribution to building the future. The West has no social capital. If we can synthesize our social capital with the West’s scientific capital, we can succeed. At this point, the internet and artificial intelligence can provide today the impact that the stone roads of Rome provided in their time.”
“The way to empathy is social contact”
Emphasizing how empathy should be developed, Tarhan said: “The way to learn empathy is through social contact. If we want to teach empathy to a child, we must send that child to school, to kindergarten. If we want to teach a child human relations, they must have plenty of contact with people and make mistakes. They will take a step, the other side will take a step. They will learn to notice the other person’s feelings, rights, and needs, and thus develop empathy.”
“Narcissism is selfishness turned into a personality pattern”
Drawing attention to the loneliness of narcissistic individuals, Tarhan said: “A book has recently been published in the USA titled ‘The Narcissism Epidemic.’ Pandemic means a global epidemic, while epidemic means a local epidemic. Narcissism is selfishness turned into a personality pattern. Today, if a person is globally narcissistic, if they live solely focused on their own interests, if they see themselves as special, important, and superior, if they constantly feed on praise, if they are closed to criticism and always chase pleasure, such people end up alone. When they are powerful, they are surrounded by people, but when they lose their power and resources, they become lonely and collapse rapidly. Indeed, loneliness is counted by the United Nations among the three major dangers for the future. The first is income inequality, the second is climate change, and the third is loneliness.”
“We have a movement of construction over hearts”
Stating that building hearts is more important, Tarhan said: “Gaza has created a tremendous opportunity for us. What kind of opportunity is what is happening in Gaza? Their children are dying there, yet Gazans are using the same method as the Prophet of Islam. The Prophet of Islam, during thirteen years in Mecca and then ten years in Medina, did not use weapons despite all of Mecca’s isolation and embargoes, even when Umar said, ‘Let us fight.’ He did nothing contrary to human rights. He tried to build hearts. He struggled for thirteen years and still did not fight, because his goal was to construct over hearts. They said to him, ‘Come to Medina, become the emir of Mecca. We will grant you every opportunity, let you marry whomever you wish.’ Yet he said, ‘Even if you were to place the Moon in one of my hands and the Sun in the other, I would not give up my cause.’ If he had thought tactically and strategically, he would have accepted, gained power, and then said, ‘Everyone will become Muslim anyway.’ In that case, Islam would not have built hearts. For this reason, today we also have a movement of construction over hearts. Together with artificial intelligence, what is happening in Gaza has stirred the global conscience.”
“There is no artificial intelligence without human beings”
Stating that a tendency to search for truth has emerged in people, Tarhan said: “For fifty years we have had a prejudice ingrained in our brains. The prejudice of Islamophobia. This prejudice has been shattered. In political psychology this is called an automatic stereotype. For example, when a white person in America is walking with their child and a Black person approaches from the opposite side, they unconsciously pull their child closer. This is an automatic stereotype that has settled in the brain and turned into an algorithm. They had created a similar stereotype through Islamophobia. This has been broken, turned upside down. A learned behavior has been overturned. Now a tendency to seek truth has emerged in people. And globally, artificial intelligence gives us this opportunity. You may be responsible for professional management, but people from our civilization geography also need to enter into artificial intelligence and ask about and explain these matters. Because artificial intelligence moves forward with whatever data it is built on. There is no artificial intelligence without human beings. Artificial intelligence is not a subject, not an agent. If humanity ceased to exist, artificial intelligence would end as well. Artificial intelligence needs human beings. Therefore, benevolent people must use artificial intelligence. We must not leave it in the hands of malevolent people.”
“The human brain seeks infinity, meaning, and freedom”
Emphasizing the importance of connectivity in seeking truth and finding peace, Tarhan said: “The world now is like a village that we can see, and at the same time it has become easy to access a lot of information. At this point, the most important thing is connectivity. In this age, connectivity is very important both for seeking truth and for finding peace. A person’s connectivity. The human brain seeks infinity, meaning, and freedom. Due to its biological creation, the human brain wants to share and looks for sharing. The current global life philosophy offers us a pleasure-oriented life. Modernism has changed the human philosophy of life, the meaning and purpose of life has become the pursuit of pleasure. So what does a person whose life has no meaning and whose only meaning is pleasure do? When their spouse falls ill, they say, ‘We only live once,’ and leave.”
“This process will lead to new awakenings, ascents, and resurrections”
Highlighting the concept of exploratory hopelessness, Tarhan said: “Globally, modernism is currently going through a serious internal decay. The solution to this decay lies in the wisdom in Anatolia. The teachings, social capital, wisdom, and meaning we have contributed to life over centuries need to be synthesized with the scientific approach of the East. There is a need for a new civilization ontology, for a new construction. This will happen, but with connectivity, with a re-order, a reorganization. In a sense, better days await humanity in the future. I am not pessimistic. You may ask why. Crises such as what we see in Gaza push many people into pessimism, but we call this exploratory hopelessness. When a person falls into hopelessness yet does not lose hope within that hopelessness, they emerge having learned something. Right now, we are globally experiencing an exploratory hopelessness. This process will lead to the discovery of new things, to new awakenings, ascents, and resurrections.”