President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan met with university students at the “Young Business Academy,” organized by Young MÜSİAD and hosted by Galatasaray University. Speaking under the title “Artificial Intelligence and the Psychology of Leadership,” Tarhan emphasized that leadership is not limited to intelligence and diligence alone, and drew attention to the decisive role of virtue, ethics, meaning and a sense of purpose in leadership. He also stated that artificial intelligence is transforming decision making processes and leadership perspectives.
The Young Business Academy, hosted by Galatasaray University, attracted strong interest from university students in Tarhan’s talk.
“Every officer is trained as a potential leader”
Stating that officers are trained as potential leaders, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “I come from a military background and graduated from Kuleli Military High School. Every officer is trained as a potential leader. From the moment one becomes a lieutenant, at the very least, they are a team leader and are educated with this awareness. At this point, the Armed Forces experienced a very important transformation in the early 2000s. I call it a revolution because it was a serious change in the field of scientific leadership. Previously, classical and charismatic leadership approaches prevailed. However, in 2004, under the leadership of then Chief of General Staff Hilmi Özkök, a scientific definition of leadership was established. Leadership was included as a course in all War Academies and began to be taught systematically. Today, when training leadership candidates, we see that the capitalist system focuses on two main parameters. Be intelligent and be hardworking. In other words, be successful. But is being intelligent and hardworking enough? You see someone graduate from computer engineering and become a hacker. Another graduates from chemical engineering and produces synthetic drugs. Someone finishes medical school and forms a newborn crime ring. All are intelligent, all are hardworking. This shows that a third parameter is needed.”
“Human beings are Homo Psychologicus”
Tarhan stated that people mostly make decisions based on psychological and emotional factors and said, “When people shop, make purchasing decisions or invest, they do not act according to basic needs alone. They usually invest in what they like most. They invest in appreciation, praise and applause. There is a dependence on social approval. Investment areas are shaped accordingly. Today, artificial intelligence and social media algorithms also manipulate this. At this point, human beings are Homo Psychologicus. In other words, they act with psychological and emotional factors when making decisions. In 1996, a Portuguese neuroscientist wrote a book titled Descartes’ Error and said that instead of ‘I think, therefore I am,’ it should be ‘I feel, therefore I am.’ Later, a neurologist at our university wrote a book titled ‘I believe, therefore I am.’ This means that the human brain is essentially an organ of belief. Neuroscience demonstrates this. People accept what they believe as true and act accordingly, while information they do not believe is placed into a file of doubtful information and not put into practice. This clearly reveals how decisive psychological factors are in human decision making and that humans are Homo Psychologicus.”
“Fuzzy logic has gained a global dimension”
Explaining that artificial intelligence is mathematically modeled, Tarhan said, “One of the hidden heroes of artificial intelligence is actually from Azerbaijan. In 1968, he published a work introducing the concept of Fuzzy Logic. While classical computers operate with 1s and 0s, he argued that the gray areas in between must also be taken into account and provided a mathematical model for this. Modal logic, modern logic and probability logic were defined in the 1920s. When our brain makes decisions, it performs a single main function. It scans the past and makes predictions about the future. The brain is a prediction machine that writes scenarios. The Default Mode Network in the center of the brain creates these scenarios and selects the strongest or most appealing one to make a decision. Once artificial intelligence was mathematically modeled, fuzzy logic gained a global dimension. Just as the printing press created a revolution in human history, artificial intelligence is creating a similar transformation by facilitating access to information. For this reason, the understanding of leadership is also changing. The twentieth century was the age of information leadership, while the twenty first century will be the age of wisdom. For future leaders, adopting a leadership approach that considers wisdom rather than short term, interest driven models of the capitalist system will be critical for long term leadership.”
“The twenty first century glorifies speed and success”
Tarhan emphasized that leadership should not be measured only by intelligence and diligence, saying, “The twenty first century is an age that glorifies speed and success. We mentioned two parameters earlier, be intelligent and be hardworking. The third parameter must be virtue and ethics. If a person possesses virtue and ethics, what truly protects humanity is not merely good intentions or religiosity, but accountability. In Surah Al Fatiha, the term ‘yawm ad din’ appears. This means the Day of Judgment. In Hebrew, it also means the day of accountability. Everyone will be held accountable for the good or bad they have done. Modern life has weakened this sense of accountability. Fast living and a pleasure and interest oriented philosophy have pushed it even further into the background. At the same time, three value generating characteristics still exist. Technology itself is neutral. It is shaped by the intention and purpose of the user. If we use technology for good purposes, we reach our goals faster. If we use it for harmful purposes, we become mere pawns of global actors. For this reason, our own values have become humanity’s greatest need. In true and scientific leadership, a leader does not pursue personal interest but seeks unmet needs. The leader questions which unmet need of the organization or community can be addressed and acts accordingly.”
“We need to teach our brains the happiness of meaning and purpose”
Explaining that short term pleasure is linked to dopamine while happiness derived from meaning and purpose is linked to serotonin, Tarhan said, “There is a difference between dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine is related to concrete pleasures, is short term and is quickly depleted in the brain. Moreover, dopamine is released more in response to unexpected rewards rather than expected ones. This is why gambling or substance addiction are areas where dopamine is released most, because unexpected rewards activate brain centers and cause dopamine spikes. However, true and lasting reward is related to achieving a goal or finding meaning. Mevlana expresses this in one of his sayings, ‘I was chasing pleasures and colors, at that time I was ill, when I gave them up I found healing.’ Like Majnun’s love for Layla. When he reaches her, dopamine rises briefly, then falls again and the search begins anew. This cycle repeats. So how do we protect ourselves from the dopamine trap? Dopamine is released through short term pleasures. Aristotle explained this two thousand five hundred years ago by saying there are two types of happiness. One is hedonic happiness, pleasure and dopamine happiness. The other is eudaimonic happiness, meaning and serotonin happiness. For example, in depression, antidepressants gradually increase serotonin in the brain, their effect does not appear immediately but over time. If we teach the human brain serotonin happiness rather than dopamine happiness, we do not fall into the dopamine trap. For this reason, we must teach our brains the happiness of meaning and purpose.”
“Resilience is weak among young people, they give in to discouragement too quickly”
Drawing attention to the importance of the ability to delay gratification in overcoming impatience and haste among young people, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “One of the weakest aspects of today’s youth is impatience and hastiness. For example, if you are preparing for associate professorship or a language exam, you need to study for a certain period and devote a specific number of hours each day. If you are preparing for the university entrance exam, you set goals such as solving 100 questions a day. After setting such a goal, it is important to gain the ability to say no to things that do not serve that goal. Technically, this is called the ability to delay gratification. The strength gained through delaying gratification is psychological resilience. In the literature, this is referred to as resilience, which is translated into Turkish as ‘dirençlilik.’ In fact, it is very close to the concept of perseverance in our culture. However, today resilience is weak among young people; they become discouraged easily and give up quickly.”
“Conscience is not just an emotion…”
Referring to the concept of the mental jury in the brain, Tarhan said, “Conscience is not just an emotion. It is a braking mechanism located in the frontal lobe of the brain. Our ability to say no to wrongdoing originates from here. This braking mechanism is the inhibition area, the stopping center located in the medial frontal region of the brain. For example, alcohol disrupts this area, causing disinhibition; the person says whatever comes to mind and does things they normally would not do. If you want to get to know a person, make them angry, travel with them, or observe them when they are intoxicated. In those moments, the areas that the brain normally inhibits come to the surface. This braking mechanism can be trained. There is a mental jury in our brain that governs this process. The judge of this jury evaluates whether incoming information is true, safe, beneficial, compassionate and good, and then makes the most appropriate decision: do it or do not do it. This is where free will comes into play. Human beings are conscious beings, and other living creatures do not possess this feature.”
“Whatever a person believes in, the brain builds connections around it”
Emphasizing that an idealistic, realistic and activist approach should be adopted in line with one’s ego ideal, Tarhan said, “A person must have an ego ideal. The ego ideal has both concrete and abstract dimensions. There is a hierarchy of goals, and at the very top is the question ‘What kind of person am I?’ Our ultimate goal should be to accumulate good things by the end of our lives. This may seem difficult in today’s world, but carrying this intention is important. The brain has an unseen feature. Whatever a person believes in, the brain builds connections related to it, forms perceptions and takes a position accordingly. For this reason, the brain is an organ that makes decisions based on purpose. For example, a person who says ‘I will wake up at 4 a.m.’ can wake up even without setting an alarm, but if they say ‘It doesn’t matter whether I wake up or not,’ they may miss something important. That is why we need to program our brains with long term, medium term and short term goals. This is possible through ego ideals. Here, three qualities must be combined: idealism, realism and activism. Idealism means being idealistic in line with one’s abilities; we should not chase unrealistic dreams such as trying to teach a fish to fly or a bird to swim. Realism means, like Mevlana’s compass metaphor, keeping one foot in reality and the other in dreams. Activism means turning what we do into action. We are not a culture of constant complaint. Our ancestors advanced from Central Asia to the Adriatic on horseback, with a culture of command and action. The abundance of imperative expressions in the Turkish language also reflects this. In such a culture, laziness does not suit us at all.”
“What really matters is knowing how to swim in stormy seas”
Highlighting the importance of compassion and a sense of responsibility, Tarhan said, “This era is risky both for being very good and for being very bad. It is a rather dangerous period. Learning to swim in calm waters is easy; what really matters is knowing how to swim in stormy seas. Today, the two emotions that have been most damaged are compassion and responsibility. Digitalization negatively affects these feelings, especially among young people. We also find this mentioned in a Hadith: ‘Near the end of time, Satan will beset your children.’ When asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how will we understand this?’ the answer is, ‘You will recognize it by two things: a lack of modesty and a lack of compassion.’ In other words, in the end times, Satan’s influence over children will be evident through a deficiency in modesty and compassion. One of the greatest harms digitalization causes to people is precisely this: a lack of empathy, that is, mercilessness. Thinking only of one’s own interests and disregarding the needs and feelings of others…” he concluded.
Plaque presented to Prof. Tarhan
After answering questions from participants, Prof. Tarhan was presented with a plaque by Young MÜSİAD Deputy Chairman Furkan Meral, Board Member Esma Nur Kamar and Education Commission Member Büşra Alkan at the end of the talk.