Prophetic Attributes

We will examine Daniel in terms of possessing the required attributes for a messenger. We can understand the process of choosing someone to be a messenger for humanity if we compare it to how we choose someone to do an important job; this person must possess certain qualities. Our requirements become much more stringent in accordance with the importance of the duty. After the candidate has been found we support this person.

…to God belongs the highest comparison. (Qur’an 16:60)

There are some requirements for representing God and guiding people. These are called the attributes of messengers.

The first characteristic of a messenger is truthfulness; this is the pivot of Prophethood. It could not be otherwise, for if a prophet were to lie, everything connected with the divine religion would be upset. The truthfulness of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is paramount. He was completely truthful toward all of God’s creatures. The second attribute of Prophethood is trustworthiness. Being a believer implies being trustworthy. All prophets were the best of believers and therefore were perfect exemplars of trustworthiness. They were loyal and never cheated anyone. The third attribute of Prophethood is the communication of truths, otherwise known as “enjoining good and forbidding evil.” Prophets came with the same divine religion based on submission to God, and all had as their sole mission the communication of this Message. Intellect is another important attribute of Prophethood. In this context, intellect has a specific meaning: a composite of reasoning power, sagacity, intelligence, sound judgment, and wisdom that far surpasses the ability of ordinary people through a sublime power of understanding. It encompasses and coordinates all human abilities, whether of the heart and soul or of the mind. The infallibility of prophets is an established fact based on reason. This quality is required for several reasons. First, the prophets came to convey the Message of God. This is their function as guides and good examples to be followed. If we liken this Message to pure water or light, then any impurities would have polluted the Message. Every stumble is an impurity, a dark spot in the heart and causes doubts in the minds of listeners. The last attribute is that the messages of the prophets were concerned about unseen worlds and that they made prophecies. These were among the miracles of the prophets.

Before we start to analyze BD we need to stress some important points. First of all, except for the final attribute, all these attributes should be the target for all humans who want to achieve decency, if not excellence. Secondly, even if a person does not possess these qualities, God can still use this person. Thirdly, we have to honor people who possess these qualities as they are people who possess prophetic morals.

Daniel of the Book

BD starts with a scene where a king is choosing people from different nations as servants for his kingdom. Obviously, due to his intelligence, trustworthiness, physical perfection and many other qualities, Daniel was one of the four chosen from among the Jews. When the king appointed them daily provision, Daniel requested that he should not be given food that is forbidden by God. However, at the same time he stated and proved that lawful food is healthier.

The king had a dream that troubled his spirit. However, he forgot what he had seen in that dream. He called the astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers and asked for an interpretation of his dream. Nobody could satisfy him, which made the King furious. He finally understood the deception of the so-called wise men and he ordered them all to be killed. Apparently God had prepared this scene for the Daniel’s grand entrance. After hearing the order, Daniel prayed to God and God revealed to him the vision and its meaning:

“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise [men], the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.”

Daniel’s job was not to interpret the dream, but rather to tell people about God. Thus, he used this dream as an opportunity. The dream was a statue-like image, which symbolizes the kingdom where each part of the body corresponds to the present and future kings. Later on we witness the faith of Daniel’s friends and how they stood up for their beliefs. Chapter Four starts with the statements of a transformed king who respects and probably believes in Daniel’s God. However, after certain events followed, events that happened in exactly the way Daniel had predicted, the king praised, extolled and honored the King of Heaven and became a believer. In Chapter Five, Daniel showed his truthfulness to the King. Chapter Six shows that people trusted Daniel (6.3) and that his enemies could find nothing to accuse him of at all (6.4;6-5). They therefore tricked the king into signing a law that prohibited Daniel from worshipping God. However, man-made laws could not come between him and God, so he kept praying and making supplications. The king ordered Daniel to be executed, however God saved him. When he returned to the king, just as before, he used this as an opportunity to communicate with the people and he gave full credit to God.

“My God hath sent me his angels.”(6.22)

The following chapters (7-10) are important in terms of Daniel’s visions and his messages from the unseen world, although his dreams and their interpretations will be explained in the next section. The following table shows the important verses where the attributes can be clearly seen.

Truthfulness 4-19; 5-28; 5-17; 5-28

Trustworthiness 2-18; 5-28; 6-3

Communication 2-18; 2-28; 3(indirect);

5-18; 6-10; 6-22

Intelligence 1-4; 1-17; 4-19/24

Infallibility 1-4; 1-8; 6-4; 6-24

Conclusion

In Daniel we see a great example to follow. This is a man of conviction, devotion, truth, trust, wisdom and respect for the Most High. He walks to his death, talks to kings, solves problems and uses every opportunity to talk about God. With such devotion he finds God always near him offering protection and blessings. May God’s blessings be upon his messengers, their companions and their faithful followers.

It would be appropriate to finish this article with some of the names of God that are mentioned in BD. Some things are so good, that one can never read them too many times.

… the God of heaven. (2-19)

He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. (2-21)

He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what [is] in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him. (2-22)

God in heaven that revealeth secrets. (2-28)

God [is] a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets. (2-47)

… the most high God. (3-26)

There is no other God that can deliver after this sort. (3-29)

How great [are] His signs! and how mighty [are] His wonders! His kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion [is] from generation to generation. (4-3)

… He that liveth for ever. (4-34)

… the King of heaven, all whose works [are] truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. (4-37)

… the God in whose hand thy breath [is], and whose [are] all thy ways. (5-23)

He [is] the living God, and steadfast for ever, and His kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion [shall be even] unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth. (6-26/27)

References

• Wilson, Robert Dick, Studies in the Book Of Daniel.

• Baldwin, Joyce, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary

• Thomas, John, An Exposition of Daniel.

• Sir Isaac Newton’s Observations on Daniel.

The appeal of the Golden Ratio to the human eye and brain has been scientifically tested. When subjects are presented with a range of rectangles, people invariably pick out as most pleasing ones those whose sides are of the Golden Ratio. This golden number is the basic number at work in aesthetics; there are even claims that the Golden Ratio was used by Leonardo da Vinci when painting the Mona Lisa, and by the Greeks in building the Parthenon. But the surprising thing is that a number deemed aesthetically pleasing by human beings also crops up in nature and science. In a newly published article in Physical Review B, it is stated that the Golden Ratio appears in the structures of some metals. The Golden Ratio is seen in the arrangement of seeds on flower heads, in the spirals of sea shells and galaxies, even in black holes. This ratio can be found almost everywhere in the universe.

Although the Greek mathematician Euclid first defined the Golden Ratio in around 300 BC, the followers of Pythagoras probably knew of it two centuries earlier. Euclid defined it as a line that can be divided into two unequal parts (Figure 1), where the ratio of the smaller part of the line to the longer part is the same as the ratio of the longer part to the whole. This ratio is 1.6180339887…, the Golden Number.

What makes the Golden Ratio special is the number of mathematical properties it possesses. The Golden Ratio is the only number whose square can be produced simply by adding 1 and the reciprocal of which can be arrived at by subtracting 1. If you take a Golden Rectangle – that is a rectangle where the length-to-breadth ratio is equal to the Golden Ratio, and take out a square, what remains is another, smaller Golden Rectangle. Also, think of any two numbers. Make a third by adding the first and second, a fourth by adding the second and third, and so on. If you start with 7 and 11, then what you have is:

7, 11, 18, 29, 47, 76… When you have written down approximately 20 numbers, calculate the ratio of the last to the penultimate: the answer should approximate the Golden Number.

In mathematical terminology it is (an/an-1) equals to the Golden Ratio.

Another example of the Golden Ratio is the Fibonacci Numbers, that is a number series where each number is simply the sum of the previous two numbers. These numbers are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55… The ratio between any two successive Fibonacci numbers approaches the Golden Ratio as the numbers get larger. We can find the Fibonacci series particularly in the spirals of sea shells and in the arrangement of seeds on sunflower heads.

It was the elusive nature of the Golden Ratio that led the Italian friar and mathematician Luca Pacioli to equate it with the incomprehensibility of God. In the 15th century, he wrote a three-volume treatise, Divina Proportione (Divine Proportion), that was crucial in the dissemination of the Golden Ratio beyond the world of mathematics. After him, many artists, architects, and musicians used the Golden Ratio in their works; for example, musicians such as Debussy and Bartok and the architect Le Corbusier.

Let’s examine the arrangement of leaves on the stem of the plant Phyllotaxis. As each new leaf grows, it does so at an angle offset from the leaf below. The most common angle between successive leaves is 137.5 degrees – the Golden Angle; 137.5=3d 360-360/G, where G is the Golden Ratio. Why does the Golden Ratio play a role in the arrangement of leaves? It is all down to the irrationality of the number. A new leaf must collect sunlight without throwing too much of a shadow on the leaves below. A plant must arrange its leaves in such a way that the greatest number can spiral around the stem before a new leaf can sprout immediately above a lower one – that is at 360 degrees. If the leaves were arranged at an angle of 120 degrees, then the leaves would grow as 3 separate columns with large gaps between them. This would effectively block out the sunlight to the lower leaves. If the angle were 50 degrees, then there would be spaces between the leaves. But, with an angle of 137.5, the maximum amount of leaves can be arranged with a minimum of space being left between the leaves.

The Golden Ratio also crops up in hard sciences. Let’s take a look at the growth of “quasi-crystals.” These maintain a five-fold symmetry, which means that they make a pattern that looks the same when rotated by multiples of one-fifth of 360 degrees. Since the time when these crystals were discovered in 1984, many physicists have been researching their properties. In Brookhaven National Lab in New York State, Tanhong Cai imaged the microscopic terrain of the surface of such crystals made from alloys of aluminum-copper-iron and aluminum-palladium-manganese. It is found that flat terraces are punctuated by abrupt vertical steps. The steps come in two predominant sizes, with the ratio of the heights of these two steps being the Golden Ratio. This fact was discovered in 2002.

The most surprising place where the Golden Ratio appears is in black holes, a discovery made by Paul Davies of the University of Adelaide in 1989. Black holes and other self-gravitating bodies, such as the sun, have a negative specific heat. This means that they get hotter as they lose heat. In a spinning black hole there is an outward centrifugal force acting to prevent any shrinkage of the hole. The force depends on how fast the black hole is spinning. It turns out that at a critical value of the spin (when the ratio between the square root of the mass value and the square root of the spinning parameter is equal to the golden ratio), a black hole flips from having negative to positive specific heat. In other words, the Golden Ratio determines the character of the black hole.

Figure 2 shows the finger bones of a hand. The ratio of each bone at the top of the hand to the bones at the bottom of the fingers is the Golden Ratio. Pine-cones show the Golden Ratio spiral clearly (Figure 3). If one looks carefully at an ordinary cauliflower, one can see a center point where the florets are smallest, and the florets are organized in spirals around this center in both directions (Figure 4). The flower, Echinacea Purpura, has the same spirals (Figure 5).

With the help of developing science, new examples of the Golden Ratio are waiting to be discovered in the universe. The latest discoveries demonstrate that by using this ratio in technology, new products which make our lives easier will soon be available to all. This mystery that is spread throughout the universe may be an opportunity to renew and change our points of view on life.

Reference

• Chown, Marcus, “Why Should Nature Have a Favorite Number,” New Scientist, 21-28 December 2002, 55-56.

I was approached by The Fountain editorial board to write something on the issue of parents and family, on the occasion of Mother’s Day. Family relations and respect for parents and elders are considered among the universal values of humanity. In this modern day, the importance is ever more evident. Almost all religious traditions share in these values – one need not look far to find Judeo-Christian or Islamic references to this. The Judeo-Christian tradition posits this value among its Ten Commandments and there are many Qur’anic and Hadith references to this in the Islamic tradition. It is interesting to see in all of these addresses that Nursi uses general terms to refer to all humans, not only Muslims. In many cases, this mimics the Qur’anic method.

Nursi frames his discussion of honoring one’s parents by making use of a Qur’anic verse, which is as follows:

Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and to be kind to your parents. If either of them or both reach old age with you, do not say to them “Fie,” nor rebuke them, but say to them kind words. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: “Lord, have mercy on them, as they took care of me when I was a child.” Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, He is All-Forgiving to those who repent. (17:23-25)

Nursi is most concerned with those who are heedless in their observance of this duty – those who house their parents or other relatives reluctantly or without honoring them. He writes:

“O you, who are unaware of the filial responsibility towards parents, in whose house is an old parent, or a helpless, invalid relative or brother-in-religion unable to make a living! Heed the verses quoted above and see how they insist in five different ways on the affection to be shown to parents!”1

He continues:

“Of course, paternal affection for children is one of the sublime realities of worldly life and, in turn, filial gratitude to them is a most urgent and heavy duty to be performed. Parents sacrifice their lives lovingly for their children, and if this is so, what falls to a child who has not lost his humanity and transformed into a monster of ingratitude, is to show sincere respect for them, to serve them willingly, and to try to gain their approval.

“With regard to filial respect and service, uncles and aunts are like parents.”2

Nursi emphasizes one of the problems which modern humanity faces; the busy, fast-paced lifestyle and the financial burdens involved in maintaining a modern standard of living. In response to those who justify their reluctance to care for elderly relatives based on these terms, Nursi contends:

“O you, who are immersed in earning your livelihood! Know that your disabled relative whom you regard as unbearable in your house is, in fact, the means of blessing and abundance. Never complain that you can scarcely make a living (that your means of subsistence are strained), for were it not for the blessing and abundance bestowed on you, you would have to face even more difficulties in making your living. This is an undeniable reality, which I could prove to you except that I would like to keep this letter brief. Believe me, I swear by God that this is an established reality to which even my satan and evil-commanding self have yielded.”3

Nursi compares the caring of elderly relatives to that of young children in the following:

Indeed, as is witnessed by the whole of existence, when the Generous, Majestic Creator, Who is infinitely merciful, compassionate, gracious and munificent, sends children to the world, He sends them together with their sustenance which He abundantly provides through the breasts of mothers. In the same way, He sends in the form of blessing and unseen, immaterial abundance, the sustenance of the old, who are like children and even more worthy and needy of compassion than children. He does not load their sustenance onto mean, greedy people.”4

Following this quote, Nursi refers to two Qur’anic verses, which are, respectively:

Surely, God is the All- Provider, the Mighty One, the Strong. (51:58)
How many a beast does not bear its provision, yet God provides for it and for you. He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (29:60)

According to Nursi, not only do humans receive their sustenance through God’s grace, but animals do as well. He writes:

“So, not only the sustenance of old relatives, but also that of pets, like cats, which are created as friends to human beings, and usually live on food from human beings, is, again, sent in the form of blessing. I have personally observed this:

“Some years ago, my daily ration consisted of half a loaf of bread. Since the loaf was very small, I barely managed with it, until four cats became my everyday guests. No sooner did they begin sharing my bread, than the same ration was always enough for all of us.

“I witnessed this so often that it convinced me that I benefited from the blessing coming through the cats. I openly declared that I was rather indebted to them, and not they to me.”5

Nursi addresses all humans in general terms, writing:

“O man, a human being is the most esteemed, noble and most worthy of respect among creatures; among human beings, the believers are the most perfect. Among the believers, the helpless, old people are those who are the most worthy and needy of respect and compassion. Among the old, the relatives deserve affection, love and service more than the others, and among the relatives, parents are the most truthful confidants and most intimate companions. Now, O man, if an animal becomes the means of blessing and abundance when it stays as a guest in a person’s house, then you can conclude how invaluable a means of blessing and mercy parents are in a house and, additionally, as stated in the hadith ‘But for the old bent double, calamities would be pouring down upon you,’ what an important means for the removal of calamities they are.”6

In the following excerpt, Nursi makes a fitting comparison to the prospect of one becoming an elder in need of compassion and service oneself. He cites a statement from Islamic culture that holds that “punishment is based on the nature of one’s actions.” Thus, if one does not offer respect to his or her parents, then one’s children will, in turn, not respect or provide service in the future. By extension, if one wants the compassion of the Most Merciful, one need be merciful to those entrusted to one’s household and care. It is interesting that Nursi notes that whatever one lives for, either worldly desires or the afterlife, such compassion and service are requisites for attaining any future goals.

In further writings on the sick and infirm, Nursi speaks of those who care for these patients. He says:

“Indeed, there is significant reward for believers for looking after the sick. Enquiring after their health and visiting the sick – on condition it does not tax them – is Sunna and also atonement for sins. There is an Hadith which says, ‘Receive the prayers of the sick, for their prayers are acceptable.’”

Especially when the sick are relations, in particular parents, looking after them is important worship, yielding significant reward. To please a sick person’s heart and console him or her, is comparable to significant alms-giving. Fortunate is the person who pleases the easily touched hearts of their father and mother at the time of illness, and receives their prayer.7

Footnotes

1 Nursi, S., The Letters, Kaynak A.S., Izmir, 1997 Twenty-first Letter, p. 53.

2 ibid., 53-54. 3 ibid., 54. 4 ibid. 5 ibid., 55. 6 ibid.

7 Nursi, S., The Flashes Collection, Sozler Publications, Istanbul, 2000, Seventeenth Remedy, p. 278.

When Did English and Hindi Begin to Differ?

The long-established “comparative method” of linguistics uses vocabulary, the structure of words, and the sound systems of languages to draw language family trees, depicting in what order related languages (such as, English, Hindi, and ancient Hittite) diverged from their mother languages and the relative “relatedness” of sister languages. Dates of divergence are usually referred to dates of historical or archaeological significance. For example, the Romanian language, a relative of Italian, must have been introduced to the region between 112 and 270 AD, when Roman troops occupied Dacia. However, the comparative method does not provide any dates itself, other than those of relative chronology. Lexicostatistics, the rival study for vocabulary change, extracts essential vocabulary from languages, such as “I, three, and hand,” which are assumed to be more resistant to change, and produces a metric of shared cognates and, hence, language kinship. Assuming a constant rate of language change over time, one can extrapolate to pre-history dates for language evolution. For example, one may try to estimate when the proto-Indo-European, the ancestor of English, Hindi, and Hittite, started branching into distinct new languages. Unfortunately, the promise of lexicostatistics (and its method, called glottochronology) became doubtful quickly after its birth. It was criticized very much in the same way as biological phylogenetic analyses were. One example to show the correspondence is that just as the mutation rates of genes (sequences of DNA) may change over time, languages may also be changing faster or slower at certain periods. Lexicostatistics is unreliable, as the similarity between languages could be mere chance convergences, or borrowings, or on the other hand, distant relatives could be unrecognizable after a great deal of divergence. These objections have plagued biology in similar ways.

Phylogenetics and Philology Side by Side

IJeJaEghoManMeHandMainRukaCheriDastHathThreeTroisTriTriaSeTinMotherMereMatMiteraMaderMaNewNouveaunoviykenuryosTazeNeyanoseNezNosMitiNaNak

Figure 1: A partial list

for Indo-European words used by Gray and Atkinson (Dyen, I. Kruskal, J.B. & Black, P., FILE IE-DATA1 at http://www.ntu.edu.au/education/langs/ielex/IE-DATA1)

The recent study by Gray and Atkinson from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, published on November 27 in Nature, uses enhanced methods developed for phylogenetic studies in language tree construction, which produces trees that are consistent with those established by the comparative method. Most importantly, maximum-likelihood models and the Bayesian inference method were employed, both being statistical methods now established in phylogenetics, to counteract any weaknesses found in past attempts of glottochronology. Their method makes it possible to estimate divergence times without a strict rate of change, also enabling the determination of unsubstantiated sections of the tree, and the incorporation of these uncertainties in the calculation of the trees and divergence times. Gray and Atkinson only used fourteen age constraints to calibrate their divergence time calculations in estimating chronology, and after confirming tests eliminated some of these constraints, doubtful cognates, and other problems, they were able to come up with a date for the initial divergence of all Indo-European languages of 7,800 to 9,800 years ago. These dates coincide beautifully with the Anatolian farmer hypothesis, which claims dispersion of Indo-Europeans from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) with the spreading of agriculture around 8,000-9,500 years ago, a hypothesis now supported by genetic studies that report a Neolithic, Near Eastern contribution to the European gene pool as well.

An Alternative Theory

This study does not extinguish one of the fiercest discussions of this century, which is favored by many linguists, that linguistic evidence favors the Kurgan expansion hypothesis, with Kurgan horsemen invading and spreading from the Asian steppes 6,000 years ago. It is thought that Kurgan horsemen possessed certain advantages, like the knowledge of the wheel and horseback riding, just as the Anatolians knew about farming. These linguists claim that the statistical and computational methods used in biology do not reflect the way languages change, and these methods use only vocabulary, but ignore grammar. This new study is a shot in the arm for the supporters of the Anatolian theory and resurrects glottochronology. Obviously, the discussion is far from being over. To reconcile the two, Gray and Atkinson note that they have observed an intense diversification period in their data at a date of 6,000 years ago, and they refer to an inclusive theory of both Anatolian origin and Kurgan expansion.2

Intertwined Trees

In their article Gray and Atkinson predict the combination of computational phylogenetic methods and vocabulary data to examine archaeological hypotheses in the future, as methods developed for biology continue to establish themselves in social sciences. As David Searls of Glaxo-Smith-Kline Pharmaceuticals concludes in his “News and Views” article in the same issue of Nature,3 “[this work] should stimulate even more cross-fertilization of ideas among those studying the intertwined trees of life and language.”

Is this not the mysterious truth of human life? Will we not find ourselves in a similar place to the one in the fable one day? Maybe our world is made more bearable with the atmosphere that we need to breathe, with the beauty of nature, pleasant flowers, the magnificence of the sea, the fruit of the trees… These sound pleasant, but why are we here? Where are we going? And what will happen at the end? Who knows the truth behind everything?

Life and death are two concepts that cannot be thought of as being separate from one another. The moment we are born is also the moment we start to approach death. The world we find ourselves in may be full of potential pleasures and beauty, but in all cases the idea of an approaching end is everywhere, making every pleasure bitter. When people become aware of this contradiction they ask themselves, “If I will cease to exist, then why do I exist now, what is my purpose?” “What is the vocation of a human as a human, and what are the surest ways in which people can fulfill this?”

The questions on the meaning of life, the mission assigned to humanity, and its definition are unavoidable questions, and may be the most frequently studied problems of philosophy. It would not be stretching the point to state that these questions are in fact the questions of human life.

Philosophical Perspectives

Philosophy has generally adopted two approaches to the problem of trying to find the “meaning” of life: pessimistic and optimistic. Some people prefer an optimistic outlook, thinking that life has a meaning, while others are pessimistic, believing that everything is meaningless, thus making life not worthwhile.

I would like to start this discussion by looking first at the pessimists and their arguments. One of the most famous Pessimists is Schopenhauer. He thinks it would be better if the world did not exist at all. He expresses this idea in the following words: “We have not to rejoice but rather mourn at the existence of the world; that is non-existence would be preferable to its existence; that it is something which ought not to be.” Schopenhauer believes in the impossibility of happiness. For Schopenhauer, nothing is worth pursuing, and in any case, the things which may be worthwhile are impossible to reach. Moreover, people deceive themselves by thinking that in the past they were happy or that in the future they will be happy. He says, “The present may be compared to a small dark cloud which the wind drives over the sunny plain: before and behind it all is bright, only it itself always casts a shadow. The present is therefore always insufficient; but the future is uncertain and the past is irrevocable.”

There are people who were more pessimistic than Schopenhauer, like Clarince Darrow. He even becomes angry with the fact of existing. He sees life as being an “awful joke.”

The Pessimists consider the meaninglessness of life as being the unchangeable truth, and according to them there are few solutions to escape this painful fact; these can be briefly listed below:

a) We should ignore everything that is meaningless and we should not ask any questions, like “what is the meaning of life, if any” or “why do I exist?”

b) We should disregard death and try to make the most of time. We should enjoy life, have fun and not miss out on any opportunity to take pleasure. This idea has been so popular that it affected many English poets, called “Cavalier Poets,” who always encouraged people to enjoy themselves before they die.

c) The exact opposite solution is that we should commit suicide. According to most pessimists, this is the best solution, because in a meaningless world, it is meaningless to live. They even think, “It is better to be dead than alive; best of all is not to exist.”

d) We should accept that life is meaningless, yet learn to live with this fact and behave rationally.

Is Happiness Really an Unattainable Emotion?

I think the significant point here is to reconstruct our lives so that we can evaluate the events. If we have the ability to look on the bright side of every event then we will be able to see well and even take pleasure at the reality of death.

The Optimists commenting on the meaning of life argue that there is a reason to live. Life exists for a purpose. In other words, it has a meaning. The Optimist view is based on two suppositions: one, that God exists and that the promised afterlife will happen. However, some philosophers think that without God and immortality, life can still be meaningful. Providing that you choose an aim for your life or if you devote yourself to something, your life will become meaningful and you will have a reason to live. To put it more bluntly, supporting the superiority of a race, or of an idea, or the pursuit of science, or a career in a certain occupation and many similar goals can be an aim for life that makes it meaningful. Nonetheless, when we look for an absolute meaning which is valid for everyone, the optimist position invites us to presuppose the existence of God and afterlife. We can liken the Optimist understanding of life to the following situation: A fish still in its egg cannot see anything. Let us suppose that a young boy buys the egg from the pet shop. He wonders where he can put the egg. He takes a mixing bowl from the kitchen and spreads sand on the bottom, so that he can bury the egg. Then the boy plants a water plant in the aquarium and fills it up with water that has been given a chance to oxygenate. Having prepared this small aquarium, the boy puts the egg in the bowl. The new aquarium is a welcoming environment as everything in it meets the needs of the fish and is an indicator of the boy’s intentions and knowledge.

According to the Optimists, the situation of the fish in the example is not very different from that of humans. When we are born, we find a welcoming environment; an atmosphere that meets our respiratory needs, soil that produces food, sun that gives heat and light, plus many more wonderful features. Humankind found the Earth ready and waiting, it has always been in harmony with our needs. Such a design causes the Optimists to imply the necessity of a reason for existence and the necessity of the Creator of that reason, God, and the afterlife.

Of course, neither the Pessimist nor the Optimist view can dominate the other unless people want to believe in a Creator and an afterlife. If one chooses to believe in a Creator, then the interpretation of the fable changes directly; the Islamic thinker, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi says in the “Eighth Word” of his great work The Words, that the allegory in the fable is reality for all humans. It is only the individual perspective of everyone that can change the meaning of the allegory. The desert is the Earth, and the pursuing beast is death. The well is a person’s life, sixty meters being sixty years; the average life expectancy. The gnawing mice are day and night. The mouth of the dragon in the well is the mouth of the grave. For believers it is the door to the eternal Garden and the beast becomes a disciplined and well-trained horse that brings us to the eternal Garden.

Therefore, one whose goal is eternal life will find peace and happiness, despite all the darkness of life.

Why Men Search for the Meaning of Life

Whatever our preferences are, either optimist or pessimist, I think first we must answer the question as to why we search for the meaning of life. It may well be that most people are tired of looking for a meaning in life and simply continue to live without direction. On the other hand, some people make a decision and side with either the Pessimists or the Optimists. Before we adopt one of these views, however, the important thing is that we should begin with the question, what leads people to look for a purpose? This is the key question that proves that our lives are not meaningless; the question itself has the power to prove that we have a reason to live a meaningful life. If this were not the case, it would not have become the most frequently asked question in the history of the world.

Maybe people want to feel safe, to welcome the future by knowing about it in advance. They may want to use this knowledge to discover the importance or the meaning in their lives. Maybe it is something similar to the instinct that causes people to find food or plants that are useful and nourishing; it may be an instinct that is leading us to find the answer.

“Why Do I Exist?”

I think that people try to find an answer to this question because they want to decide how they should live. Different answers to this question will affect people in how they determine the way that they will live their life or the shape of their future. There are millions of people and all lead different lives. People observe others around them; they see their ways of life. While observing they search “How should I live?” “What am I to live for?” To make this a bit clearer, we can say that when people observe other people, they wonder, sometimes even worrying, “What should I do?” “Where should I go?” People want to avoid the uncertainty of the future and to make up their minds. To choose a way of life, they need an objective to attain, a reason to live for, and it is at this point that they ask if there is an absolute meaning of life that is worthwhile or even obligatory.

To clarify our point, I want to give an example that has much affected me and which illustrates the need of people to decide how to live. Fritjof Capra, in his book, Uncommon Wisdom, relates that he had serious questions about whether he should become a scientist, a hippie, or a Buddhist priest. He was trying to decide a way of life, but he had several choices and did not know which would be the correct one for him, which one would be the most worthwhile. His hesitation can be summed up like this: He was living as a part-time hippie and a part-time physicist. To be a complete hippie, he should have left behind physics and dropped out of school, because all hippies were dropping out and taking up a craft to earn their lives. They were cooking their own bread and living a communal life in tents. They had long hair and wore colorful clothes with flowers on them to protest against the rich businessmen who wore suits. They held special rituals, concerts, poetry readings… This was an ideology that protested against modern capitalist America and thus required a certain way of life. However, he enjoyed his scientific work, so science was important for him as well. He was offered a scholarship to do research and was invited to conferences. Apart from all these, he was interested in Eastern philosophy. Finally, he went to a conference given by J. Krishnamurti, a famous Buddhist master. He was talking about the basic problems of existence, such as fear, death, loneliness, love, etc. After the conference, he asked Krishnamurti about the contradiction he was in, and he received the following reply: “First, we are humans, then we are something else.” He was told about the meaning of being a human.

This is a good example that strikingly reflects the situation. Even if not to this degree, people, one way or another, live through doubts and try to choose the true way of life. Finding a way of life requires finding the meaning of life that will shape our future. The Taoist thinker Chuang Tzu says that he looked for a king to employ him for many years; that is, he looked for a fact to shape his destiny.

A second reason, which may cause people to ask, “Why do I exist?” may be the habit of living in a comfortable environment. When the sea is rough, people ask, “Why is the sea rough?” and they get the explanation: “There is a difference of pressure between two regions, so a breeze occurs which in turn forms a wind and the wind causes the water to be rough.” People expect an explanation for every event, a reason. To make this clearer, we can refer to the “formula of concrete,” invented by Claude Levi Strausse. He talks about this formula in his book Savage Mind. According to him, the human mind needs order and obtains this order by giving a role to everything that makes up its environment. For example, in a primitive African tribe the green leaf is a symbol of evil, while in another tribe it is the symbol of good. This is not because the green leaf actually has evil or good in it, but rather it is seen as such because people have imbued it with a role in order to make a network of relation and order in their world. As a result, we can conclude that as people tend to give a role or a meaning to such simple things as leaves, they cannot do this without asking, “What is the role of life?” and subsequently, life must be given a role as well.

A third reason may be the notion of death. The fact that everything has an end leads people to ask why there is existence. In every incident of death, people feel its coldness. Existence becomes an absurdity if we are to consider death as the end.

In conclusion we can say that no matter which answer people find, whether they cling to ideologies or they become people indulging in passing pleasures, they must be able to say “I lived for this or that reason.” Human beings have to be able to make this statement if they are to justify their battle to live in a causal world. 

References

• Bubner, Rudiger, The German Idealist Philosophy, Penguin Books, London, 1997.
• Edwards, Paul, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Macmillan & Free Press, New York, 1967, Vol.4.
• Kapra, Fritjof, Yeni Bir Dusunce, Iz Yayinlari, Istanbul, 1991. Originally published as Uncommon Wisdom.
• Levi-Strauss, Claude, Yaban Dusunce, Yapi Kredi Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2000. Translated by Tahsin Yucel. Originally published as The Savage Mind, University of Chicago Press, 1972.
• Nursi, Said, The Words 1, Kaynak A.S., Izmir, 1997.

The theorem published in 1931 by the 25 year old Austrian scientist, Kurt Godel, made a great impact on the scientific circles. Not only did it destroy the hopes of many scientists, but it also initiated a new point of view concerning AI and the mind. This theorem is one of the most important ones to be proven this century, ranking alongside Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. However, very few people know about it. In this article, we will examine in detail the effects of Godel’s theorem on AI.

What is Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem?

As a formal definition, proof is a sequence of well-formed-formulas (wff), each of which is either an axiom or a wff that is derived from preceding wff’s. Godel’s contemporary Hilbert, one of the most famous mathematicians, thought that all proofs in mathematics can be obtained in an automated way (with an axiomatic system) and he started to work on this project. He believed that if he derived all wff’s in basic arithmetic from its own axioms, then he could derive all facts in mathematics using these axioms.

Unfortunately, Godel demonstrated the impossibility of this. First of all, he found a method of translating the syntax of a formal system into arithmetic. Then he formulated the statement, “This formula is improvable in the system,” (G) in arithmetic. Using the same method, he also formulated the negative of the statement G (“This formula is provable in the system”). For the next step, he showed that if the truth value of G was calculated, the truth value of negation of G could also be calculated, causing a contradiction. At the end of his calculations, Godel arrived at two very important consequences:

1. If a formal system that contains minimal arithmetic is consistent, then it is incomplete.

2. Consistency of any formal system containing minimal arithmetic is not internally provable (by using the system’s own rules and formulas).

Surprisingly, even if G were added as a further axiom into the system, a new Godel sentence could be easily found. In other words, no matter how many axioms we add, one can find a Godel sentence that will make the truth value undeterminable.

What Does the Theorem Imply for Artificial Intelligence vs. the Mind?

By examining Godel’s Theorem, one can determine very important consequences for artificial intelligence. An English mathematician, Turing, described an abstract machine called the “Turing Machine.” This is an abstract machine which has an unlimited amount of storage space and which can go on computing forever without making any mistakes. This machine can compute any type of algorithmic problem. According to the Turing Theorem all computers are Turing equivalents. After proposing this, Turing went on to observe that some type of problems have no algorithmic solutions. In the meantime, “the Halting Problem” emerged – the problem of deciding those situations in which a Turing Machine action fails never comes to a halt because of the consequences of the Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem.

It has been proven that a halting problem is computationally insoluble. This leads us to an important conclusion; a computer cannot be the same as the human mind because the non-computational physics of the mind is not available for Turing equivalent machines and the nature of the algorithms is not compatible with the thinking process due to the halting problem.

The argument of the Godelian Case problems made great sense to AI supporters. Godel’s Theorem started a great debate between supporters of AI vs. those of the human mind.

Reviews of the Theorem on AI vs. Mind

Penrose claims that the human mind cannot be compared to artificial intelligence. Penrose bases his claim on Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem. By appealing to the results obtained by Godel (and Turing), mathematical thinking (and hence conscious thinking generally) is something that cannot be encapsulated within any purely computational model of thought. This is the part of Penrose’s argument that his critics have most frequently taken issue with. In addition, he states that there are certain classes of problems that do not have any algorithmic solutions (R. Penrose, 1994, p.29). In fact, Turing described this as the halting problem. Penrose gives an example of the completely deterministic, but non-computable “tiling problem” (R. Penrose, 1994, p.30-33).

Penrose asserted that some mathematical relations required long chains of reasoning before they could be perceived with certainty. But the object of a mathematical proof is to provide such chains of reasoning that each step is indeed something that can be perceived as being “obvious.” He concluded that the endpoint of such reasoning is something that must be accepted as being true, even though it may not, in itself, be at all obvious. One might imagine that it would be possible to list all possible “obvious” steps of reasoning once and for all, so that from that time on everything could be reduced to computation. But, what Godel’s argument shows is that this is not possible. There is no way to eliminate the need for new “obvious” understandings. Thus, mathematical understanding cannot be reduced to blind computation (R. Penrose, 1994, p.56).

Penrose claims that the results of Godel’s

theorem established that human understanding and insight cannot be reduced to any set of computational rules (R. Penrose, 1994, p.65). In the chapter entitled “The Godelian Case” of his book Shadows of the Mind, Penrose supported his idea with Turing’s Halting Problem and showed sound examples on non-computability. At the end of the chapter he answered possible technical objections to his idea based on Godel’s Theorem in details (R. Penrose, 1994, p.64-116).

Penrose believes that there is something beyond computation in the human mind. In Chapter 3 of Shadows of the Mind, he examines the thinking process and non-computability in mathematical thought carefully and uses formal representations (R. Penrose, 1994, p.127-209). Godel’s theorem states that in any sufficiently complex formal system there exists at least one statement that cannot be proven to be true or false. Penrose believes that this would limit the ability of any AI system in its reasoning. He argues that there will always be a statement that can be constructed which is unprovable by the AI system. However, Penrose believes that somehow the human mind can see the truth of such Godel statements directly (R. Penrose, 1989).

Along the same lines as Penrose, Lucas believes that Godel’s theorem seems to prove that the idea of “Mechanism” is false, that is, that minds cannot be seen in terms of machines. He claims that Godel’s theorem must apply to cybernetics, because the essence of being a machine is that it should be a concrete instantiation of a formal system. It follows that for any given machine which is consistent and capable of doing simple arithmetic, there is a formula which it will be incapable of producing as being true (i.e., the formula is improvable in the system but which we can see to be true). It follows that no machine can be a complete or adequate model of the mind, that minds are essentially different from machines. This does not mean that a machine cannot simulate any piece of the mind; it only says that there is no machine that can simulate every piece of the mind. Lucas says that there may be deeper objections. Godel’s theorem applies to deductive systems, and human beings are not confined to making only deductive inferences. Godel’s theorem applies only to consistent systems, and one may have doubts about how far it is permissible to assume that human beings are consistent. Godel’s theorem applies only to formal systems, and there is no a priori bound to human ingenuity which rules out the possibility of our contriving some replica of humanity which is not representable by a formal system (J. Lucas, 1970).

Chalmers examines the situation when a formal system F, which understands the consequences of Godel’s Theorem, is given. According to his claim, F may not be sound, so Godel’s theorem cannot be applied. He specifies that the crucial point of Godel’s argument is not to know “a formal system is sound”; but to determine “if we know that our system is sound.” It follows that we perhaps have a sound system, but we can not conclude that “we know that we have a sound system” (D. J. Chalmers, 1995).

Like Chalmers, McCullough claims that not only artificial intelligence, but also the human mind is tightly related with Godel’s theorem. Godel argument did not prove that human reasoning had to be noncomputable – it only proved that if human reasoning was computable, then it had to either be unsound, or it had to be inherently impossible for a human to know both what a human’s own reasoning powers were and to also know that they were sound. And adds, Penrose dismisses the possibility that a human knows its reasoning powers, but does not know that they are sound. In his paper, McCullough also examines the appliability of Godel’s theorem on non-computable systems and the human mind. According to him, both are possible, by the way he asserts that Penrose’s idea is wrong. Consequently, McCullough agrees with Penrose that human reasoning cannot be formalized in some sense, because humans do not understand their reasoning system well enough to formalize it. This limitation is not due to a lack of human intelligence, but is inherent in any reasoning system that is capable of reasoning about itself. (D. McCullough, 1995).

As a short conclusion, it seems that the discussion between AI vs. mind will last for a long time. But, considering the present situation, AI has a long way to the go in order to achieve the expected skills.

References

• Chalmers, D.J. (1995). “Minds, Machines, and Mathematics”. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-09-chalmers.html

• Godel, K. “On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica”. http://www.ddc.net/ygg/etext/godel/

• Lucas, J.R. (1970). “Minds, Machines and Godel”. The Freedom of the Will, Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://users.ox.ac.uk/jrlucas/mmg.html

• Maudlin, T. (1995). “Between The Motion And The Act…”. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-02-maudlin.html

• McCarthy, J. (1995). “Awareness and Understanding in Computer Programs”. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-11-mccarthy.html

• McCullough, D. (1995). “Can Humans Escape Godel?”. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-04-mccullough.html

• Penrose, R. (1989). The Emperor’s New Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.

• Penrose, R. (1994). Shadows of the Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.

• Penrose, R. (1996). “Beyond the Doubting of a Shadow”. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-23-penrose.html

• Pysche (1995). An Interdisciplinary Search of Consciousness, Vol. 2, Symposium on Roger Penrose’s Shadows of the Mind. http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/psyche-index-v2.html

After the sixth phase, the typical characteristic in the universe was a temperature that reached as high as 4,000 C. At that temperature space was not as dark as it is today, rather it gleamed brightly. As matter condensed into gases and cooled down as time passed, the density values increased and the planets that we know today started to form out of the increasingly solidifying matter. The universe, presumably, was still a homogeneous gas cloud of helium and hydrogen when it reached an age of 700,000 years. Yet, the universe did not become a single galaxy by collapsing on a single point; rather billions of galactic centers were created. So, what made the universe wait as a gas cloud in just that state? Why did it not collapse in on a single point?

While cosmology has been asking this question for years, Roger Penrose, a theoretical physicist and black hole expert, tried to compute the first creation power in one of his studies in 1973. Some tiny particles, smaller than a proton, were discovered. Those particles had been formed not by the collapse of the stars, but during the first creation after The Big Bang. Although those tiny black particles were far smaller than atoms, they behaved like black holes and swallowed everything they encountered. Yet it seems that they left their footprints as they passed. It seems as if hydrogen and helium clouds had gathered around those enormous attraction centers and the cores of billions of galaxies had thus formed. The universe was being shaped and was expanding from particles made up of a cosmic soup, a gas cloud. The Qur’an also relates the great transformation that took place in shaping the universe:

Have the unbelievers not beheld that the heavens and the earth were a solid mass, then We separated them; and of water We produced every living thing, will they not believe, then? (21:30)

From Dust and Gas Clouds to Cosmic Systems

Stars, like living beings, grow older and demise. They go through an infancy, then youth and adulthood. Some gas and dust clouds, known as Nebulas lie among galaxies. Nebulas are considered to be the raw material of stars. In our galaxy, the Milky Way, gas and dust clouds are mostly located on the spiral arms that extend outward. An impact, called a shock wave, causes interstellar matter to come together and condense into huge clouds and spheres in space. The clouds that condense during the first formation of stars are so thin that they do not even have gravitational effect. Due to this lack of gravity, it has not yet been fully understood how these gas and dust clouds came together and condensed.

A condensed cloud heats up due to the collisions within it; these collisions increase as the cloud is compressed in a process that lasts millions of years. These collisions cause the cloud to sparkle and gleam. Initially, some rays, such as infrared or radio waves, are emitted.

While the star forms, the outer crust collapses very slowly, whereas the central parts collapse at a much greater rate. As the cloud condenses farther, it emits more light and starts to shine inside the dark, dusty covering that surrounds it. This nuclear cooking-pot, which has a temperature of 10 million C at its core, sparkles. With the flaring of the star, a disk forms around the newly created center. Strong winds, triggered by the powerful hot gases that are emitted from the upper and lower surfaces of the disk, blow in opposite directions; they sweep away most of the original gas cloud that formerly impeded the visibility of the new star. Thus, the star begins to be visible through an ordinary telescope. The energy produced in the center of the star after it has been formed and reaches a certain age, impedes greater collapse. This energy provides the necessary pressure to block the collapse of matter and seeks a way to escape. Hence, the star reaches an equilibrium.

We cannot observe stars being born in interstellar gas clouds with normal telescopes. This is because the gases in space and within the dust clouds act like the particles in cigarette smoke and absorb the light. Thus, we see the clouds as dark silhouettes on the surface of the star. Formations of stars can only be observed through infrared telescopes. An infrared telescope was first placed on a satellite sent into orbit in 1983. That telescope discovered thousands of young stars hiding in the depths of interstellar clouds.

A condensed gas cloud needs to be of a certain size in order to become a star. If the gathering gas clouds are not large enough, a different situation occurs: a planet is born! The stars and planet systems that orbit the stars are formed in this way. While stars are being formed, the planets are made out of smaller gas clouds.

The Sun is a typical small star that is relatively very young. We can see stars in space that are up to a hundred times as large as the Sun, or ones that are one-tenth its size. When stars are compared to the Sun, the dimmer ones that have a surface temperature of only 3,000 C are at the bottom of the range, while ones similar to the Sun, with a surface temperature of 6,000 C, occupy the middle range. Stars that are much larger than the Sun have a surface temperature surpassing 30,000 C. Contrary to general thought, larger stars live shorter lives, because the denser and the hotter the core is, the more intense are the nuclear reactions that take place.

Thus, these stars have brighter surfaces. A massive star that uses more nuclear power is more likely to run out of fuel sooner. On the other hand, a smaller star that uses its fuel sparsely has a longer life, even though it has less fuel. We know that there is a simple relation between the temperature and the pressure of a gas. If we heat up a gas in an enclosed container, the pressure will increase; if we cool it down, the pressure will decrease. When you think of a star with a temperature reaching millions of degrees Celsius at its center, you can understand how great the pressure is there. We know that heat is being produced through nuclear reactions. Every star is under the influence of an attraction force that approximates and compresses the elements of the atoms it contains. As the mass of the star increases so does the attraction force. This inward force is balanced by the force of outward nuclear explosions. The most significant reaction that ensures the vitality and continuity of the star is the transformation of hydrogen into helium through fusion. Yet, while this happens, the fuel lessens and the reactor will fail to function properly. At this point, the force of the pressure keeping the star in a balance is endangered and the star begins to lose its long struggle against the attraction within its mass.

As stars lose their fuel, they are exposed to different “deaths,” in proportion to their mass. The number 1.44 is the coefficient related to the mass of the Sun. Stars with a mass of less than 1.44 times the mass of the Sun become black or white dwarves, whereas those with a mass of more than 1.44 times the mass of the Sun become supernovas, neutron stars, and eventually black holes. If the mass of a star is more than 1.44 times the mass of the Sun, it will not remain as a dwarf. Its inner temperature and density will increase and the fuel, in the form of iron, nickel, chrome and cobalt, will not be able to burn anymore. Temperature and pressure turn the electrons and protons into neutrons by adhering them to one another. The iron core becomes a huge ball with a diameter measuring 100 kilometers. At a critical temperature the star explodes, emitting a billion times its normal light intensity. This is a supernova explosion. With the explosion, a terrific shock wave and the flow of neutrino (an elementary particle with zero charge and zero mass) spreads. The materials produced in the explosion flow into space as gas clouds.

The Event of the Supernova and the World

As a matter of fact, at one time we were physically part of a star. That star was probably larger than the Sun and was formed right after the creation of the universe, namely in the first few hundred thousand years.

At those times, the universe was almost completely made up of hydrogen. The solar system and the earth had been formed of this element. Hydrogen was the beginning of everything, and whatever material was available in the universe had been derived from the hydrogen atom. Only after being processed in the nuclear furnace for billions of years did hydrogen turn into helium.

Consequently, the star’s life was over. As the fuel in the depots was running out, demise emerged on the horizon. It began in fits and starts, and then when the furnace was about to go out, the mass of the huge star collapsed in on itself. Having increased in size after the collapse, the pressure triggered new nuclear reactions. Thus, a series of elements, ranging from carbon to iron, came to be part of the body. Finally, the star gave its all with an enormous explosion that we call a supernova. A billion-year life ended in just a few seconds. Atom particles at the core of the star melted and turned into neutrons in just a few seconds, and the parts closer to surface were thrown into space at a speed of ten million kilometers per second. It was a magnificent moment in which billions of degrees of heat was produced and in which a great light, as bright as one billion suns, shone. Some of the elements that are heavier than iron were also created during that time.

Supernova means death to a star. The enormous energy once unleashed heats up the outer layers of the star so much that the way is paved for new fusion and energy-absorbing reactions to occur instead of energy-freeing ones. Not only iron, but also other heavy elements, such as gold, lead, and uranium are manufactured in this furnace. These elements are thrown into space together with pre-synthesized and lighter ones, like carbon and oxygen, and combine with the wreckages of other supernovas. During the succeeding millenniums, new star and planet generations are created.

For our planet, fantastic and extraordinary cosmic events, such as supernovas, have been the starting point for the existence of some elements, like oxygen, gold and silver, and ultimately for the creation of life. The sources of carbon and oxygen that are essential to life, the silver and gold rings that we wear on our fingers, the lead plates on our roofs, and the uranium that fuels our nuclear reactors are all results of the death throes of stars that died prior to the birth of the Sun.

As we have seen, a supernova explosion causes matter to move from one point to another. As a result of such explosions, many of the remnants of stars are spread over space and new stars or star systems are created by the accumulation of such remnants. The Sun and the planets in our solar system and surely those in our universe exist as the result of a very early supernova. In this immense universe which houses humanity, the transformation that matter undergoes, and the gradual advance toward a certain destination, all indicate that the Divine Knowledge, Power and Will are intermingled with His Compassion and Grace.

All methods of estimating “time” use the same principle: measuring the velocity of natural processes that show continuity over time. One of the most advanced methods of chronometry today is to use the velocity of quartz crystal vibrations when exposed to an electric field. The wristwatches we wear in our daily life are well-known applications of this method. Another method of measuring time is to measure the rate of decay of radioactive elements.

However, having a process with which to measure is not sufficient. To measure the time that has passed correctly there are three requirements that need to be satisfied. First of all, it is essential that the process is stable and immutable, even during the period before we were able to observe it. Secondly, the beginning state should be known. For example, the length of a candle before being lighted or the amount of water in a cup before being boiled should be known. Thirdly, the process should not be influenced by any outer effects.

Today, all these three factors have been applied in studies of measuring time. But, when the question comes down to Geochronometry (Measurement of geologic time, as through isotopic radioactive decay), they are somehow more difficult to apply. Since the selected process starts before the beginning of history, we do not have methods to observe the process directly or to make sure that these three requirements were met then as today. And this is where the problem starts.

For instance, we can use the salinity of the oceans as a means of measuring the age of the Earth (This method was developed in 1898 by Irish geologist John Joly). This is a promising method, because it is assumed that the amount of salt in the water of the ocean was originally zero, and that salt was propelled by rainwater and rivers from the soil. The encouraging fact about this method is that the amount of salt brought to the oceans by rainwater and rivers is constant (approximately 540 million tons of salt annually). Today, the average density of salt in oceans is nearly 32 grams per liter. By using this ratio, we can calculate the total amount of salt in the oceans as being approximately 50 quadrillion tons. When we divide this number by the amount of salt propelled annually, we can find the age of the Earth in years.

Joly calculated this as being 100 million years using this method. However, considering the study in light of the three requirements mentioned above, the shortcomings of this method are obvious. Firstly, we cannot really be sure that the amount of salt propelled was static in the geological past. There is good reason to think that the climate and annual rainfall might have been significantly different in the past. Ice ages, great droughts, excessive rains, and the undeterminable effects of these factors may have all played a part. Secondly, it is impossible to be sure that the oceans were salt-free at the beginning. They may have contained some salt (recent research carried out in the Atlantic demonstrates the possibility that salt could have penetrated through to the oceans from the magma layer). Thirdly, some external influences may have affected this so-called stable process. There is a large and self-replicating circulation of salt in the atmosphere. New clues lead us to think that the amount of salt in oceans today is stable. As soon as the salt propelled by rivers accumulates, it evaporates at the same speed. While a huge amount of salt evaporates in biological processes, a greater amount penetrates to the depths of the seas.

The Uranium-Lead Method

All the methods that estimate the age of the Earth suffer from the same shortcomings to some degree. The radiometric age estimation method, which can estimate age up to 4.5 million years, consists of measuring radioactive elements that have a long half-life and that maintain their radioactivity over a long period. These elements are uranium and thorium, which decay into helium and lead, rubidium, which decays into strontium, and potassium, which decays into argon. However, as we will see, the Uranium-Lead method has been given great importance, in particular by evolutionists.

The basic principle involved is that radioactive uranium 238, uranium 235, and thorium 232 atoms eventually decay into miscellaneous lead atoms, without any trigger (in addition, uranium 238 decays into helium gas).

Interestingly, the decay rate of each element is definite. Uranium and thorium atoms periodically radiate alpha particles. However, it is unpredictable which atom will decay when. But in any substantial mass of the mineral there will be many billions of atom, and with very large numbers of events the “law of large numbers” operates to produce a statistically predictable result.

The significant part of this theory is that radiogenic lead 206, which is not radioactive and which is decayed from radioactive uranium 238, is found in rocks. However, it differs chemically from lead 204, which is neither radioactive nor radiogenic. To estimate the age of a rock, it is split and the amounts of radioactive uranium and radiogenic lead found are measured. Since the decay rate is known, it is possible to calculate the age of the rock.

The half-life of uranium 238 – one of the isotopes used – is calculated as being 4.5 million years. This means that half of any amount of uranium 238 will decay into lead 206 in 4.5 million years. For instance, if an investigation shows that half of a rock consists of uranium 238, and the other half consists of lead 206, which is the final product of uranium 238, the rock is then 4.5 million years old (although this number has not been calculated by a direct measurement, it is an average age for the crust of the Earth).

If radiogenic lead (lead 206 that has decayed from uranium 238, lead 207 that has decayed from uranium 235, and lead 208 that has decayed from thorium 232) are truly the products of radioactive decay then it is assumed that these rocks contained no radiogenic lead at the very start of the process of rock formation. This is a reliable starting point for calculations. Simi-larly, it is assumed that radiogenic lead cannot penetrate rocks in any other way, and conse-quently there is no process that can affect the decay process. However, when examined carefully, we can see that this is not really the case. A new process in which “natural” lead transforms into a form that cannot be distinguished from radiogenic lead was discovered by experimentation (Cook, 1966). This transformation occurs by natural lead taking hold of free neutrons. These neutrons are atoms that have the energy to transform natural lead into radiogenic lead. Then what is the source of the free neutrons?

The Origin of Lead 208

The source of lead 208 lies in a radioactive mine bed where natural fission (the division of the nucleus of uranium) has taken place. (A uranium bed were such natural fission occurs has been found in The Gabon.) In this uranium bed, while some uranium 238 atoms decay into lead 206, others divide by natural fission and produce neutrons. These neutrons simultaneously transform natural lead (lead 204) and radiogenic lead (lead 206) to lead 208 isotopes in a gradual process. This isotope cannot be distinguished experimentally from lead 208, a product of the alpha decay of thorium 232. Therefore, the lead 208 isotope emerges from two different sources. However, Darwinists state that all lead 208 isotopes detected are the product of thorium 232, which would mean that there is a large amount of radiogenic lead, and subsequently that the process continues for a long time. Significantly, this is a mechanism that would tip our measurements in favor of an “old” Earth.

In the neutron capture process, the isotopic values of lead would be systematically changed: lead 206 would be converted into lead 207, and lead 207 into lead 208 by taking on a single neutron. What is interesting is that lead 208 makes up more than half of the lead in the bed. According to Darwinists, this means that there was a large amount of naturally occurring thorium 232 in that bed, which later changed into lead 208. However, Melvin Cook, who carried out research in uranium beds in Zaire and Canada (the largest uranium beds in the world) states that, although the beds do not contain thorium 232, they do contain a large amount of lead 208. This can only mean that lead 208 results from lead 207 taking hold of a neutron. He also states that all radiogenic lead can be accounted for in this way.

Other people have tried to denigrate Cook, a man who believed in “creation”, and his studies. Among these is the geologist Brent Dalrymple from the U.S. Geological Survey. Neither Dalrymple, who argued that the level of free neutrons were too low to make any significant difference in the number of lead 208 as lead isotopes in the beds, nor could anyone else provide a satisfactory explanation to why, although there was no thorium 232 in the beds, lead 208 was found in huge amounts. Uranium decay not only degrades the most important criteria of a reliable geocronometry method, but it also degrades the criteria of the process, i.e that it is stable, immutable, and not intervened with. Uranium, which naturally emerges as an oxide rather than a metal, and which shows a very high capacity of dissolving in water because of this property, ekes out of its original bed with water. Its effect in age estimation is unpredictable, as while some parts of the bed are poor in uranium, other parts are rich.

The Helium Problem

Beside lead, one of the final products produced in the decay of uranium 238 is radiogenic helium, the atomic weight of which is 4. It is thought that a significant proportion of helium in the atmosphere is radiogenic helium that emerges in the decay process that has continued throughout history. If the uranium-lead age estimation method is reliable, then the amount of helium in the atmosphere must suggest an age in agreement to the age provided by radiogenic lead estimation. However, the ages acquired from the two methods are significantly different. If the Earth were 4.6 billion years old, then there would be roughly 100 trillion tons of radiogenic helium 4 in the atmosphere. Actually, there are only around 3.5 billion tons present – several thousand times less than there should be (0.035 % to be precise).

Writing in Nature on the “mystery” of the Earth’s missing radiogenic helium, Melvin Cook says: “…Hence more than 1,020 grams of helium should have passed into the atmosphere since the ‘beginning.’ Because the atmosphere contains only 3.5×1,015 grams of helium 4, it must also have passed out through the exosphere, and that the present rate of loss through the atmosphere balances the rate of exudation from the lithosphere.”

Cook says that uniformitarian geologists have attempted to explain this discrepancy by assuming that the other 99.96 percent has escaped from Earth’s gravitational field into space – but this process has not been observed. In 1984, Dalrymple argued a mechanism that can explain this difference and that provides a reply to Cook’s proposal: “Banks and Holzer have shown that the polar wind can account for an escape of 2 to 4 million ions/cm2 per second of helium 4, which is nearly identical to the estimated production flux of 2.51.5 million atoms/cm2 per second.”

There are two things that make Banks and Holzer’s findings unsuitable for the purposes to which Dalrymple tries to fit them. First of all, if the Earth really is 4.5 billion years old, then its atmosphere would have to lose helium at a rate somewhere around 1,016 atoms/cm2 per second, or some ten orders of magnitude faster than Dalrymple’s figure, to account for the missing helium.

Secondly, the numbers Dalrymple used were calculated 30 years ago. In that period, most scientists believed that the Earth moved in empty space (i.e., that nothing encapsulated the Earth but emptiness), and that hydrogen and helium atoms escaped to emptiness. New studies have shown that, rather than losing helium, the atmosphere gains a significant amount of helium. Since the Earth rotates around the Sun, it does not move in empty space, it moves in the atmosphere of the Sun, which is made up of mainly helium and hydrogen that have emerged from the nuclear processes that occur on the Sun. According to research, the Earth gains helium in this way as well.

In his book (1987) Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, space scientist James Lovelock writes: “The outermost layer of the air, so thin as to contain only a few hundred atoms per cubic centimeter, the exosphere, can be thought of as merging into the equally thin outer atmosphere of the Sun. It used to be assumed that the escape of hydrogen atoms from the exosphere gave the Earth its oxygen atmosphere. Not only do we now doubt that this process is on a sufficient scale to account for oxygen, but we rather suspect that the loss of hydrogen atoms is offset or even counterbalanced by the flux of hydrogen from the Sun.”

Lovelock mentions hydrogen, not helium. Helium is four times heavier than hydrogen and exists in abundance in the Sun’s atmosphere, since it is the main product of the nuclear fusion process on the Sun. If hydrogen were gained instead of being lost, it would be reasonable to expect this to occur for helium as well. Cook says: “If we take the amount of helium 4 measured in the atmosphere and then apply the radioactive age estimation technique, we will find that the age of the Earth is approximately 175,000 years. This invalidates our reliability criteria; the possible flow of helium from external sources interrupts this process.”

Cook is not alone in his thoughts. In articles published in influential journals, similar suspicions have been stated. Funkhouser and Naughton from the Hawaiian Geophysics Institute calculated the ages of volcanic rocks that had emerged from Mount Kilauea by using the potassium-argon method and calculated them to be nearly 3 million years old. However, it is know that these rocks were formed during a volcanic eruption in 1801. McDougall from the Australian National University calculated the age of lava in New Zealand to be up to 465,000 years old, even though it was known to be less than 1,000 years old (Milton 1997).

As a result, the reliability of radioactive age estimation is doubtful. What is being measured is the amount of products that have decayed, not the rate of decay. It is also difficult to discuss the origin of these products. Subsequently, all radioactive geocronometry methods can be said to be highly flawed and to lack reliability. The only reliable result that emerges from the incompatibility between uranium-lead age and uranium-helium age is the conclusion that radioactive age estimation is totally unreliable. The methods based on the decay of potassium into argon and rubidium into strontium suffer from the above mentioned shortcomings, in addition to others. However, some scientists try hard to advocate one single idea: evolution. The evolution lobby dampens the volume of courageous scientists, such as Milton and Cook, damages their prestige and frightens others by the overwhelming atmosphere they have created. All methods developed to estimate the age of the Earth are full of inconsistencies. Only one among them (based on the radioactive decay of elements, such as uranium) provided an age of millions of years for the Earth. While that single technique was supported enthusiastically by Darwinists, all others were ignored. This was because according to Darwinist theory, evolution required a long geological past in order to display its results in the long term. This propaganda program by the Darwinists was so successful that almost everyone, including scientists from different fields, have come to believe that radioactive age estimation is the only unquestionable and valid method for age estimation. Yet, as we have discussed above, all of these widely accepted beliefs lack sufficient support.

References

• Milton, R., Shattering the Myths of Darwinism. Park Street Press. Vermont, 1997.
• Lovelock, J. E., Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford University Press, 1997.

The history of family life can be divided into two phases: “before TV” and “after TV.” Its affects on the whole family are so immense that they are outside the scope of this article. Instead, we will concentrate on the affects of television on children, and especially on children under the age of 3.

During our interviews with parents, almost all of them had one question: “What is the effect of television on our child?” The importance of this question can be better understood after we have studied the effects of television on our children. The effects of TV depend on how much the children watch TV, their personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk to them about what they have watched. Therefore, it would not be true to say that television is absolutely harmful or beneficial. If the necessary precautions are taken, it can be a useful source for both the child’s educational and social development, while, on the other hand, it can have very harmful and lasting effects on children if not properly monitored and if the child is left to decide when, how much and which TV programs to watch. The effects also vary according to the child’s age. This magic box has different effects on children of different age groups.

The worst, and unfortunately permanent, effects of television on children occur during the 0-3 age group. This is because some of the psycho-social attributes that are acquired in these years persist in a person’s character throughout life. Any problem that originates from this period will affect the rest of a person’s life.

The Effects of Television on the 0-3 Age Group

During this period some parents do not (or cannot) spend enough time with their children for a variety of reasons, and they leave their child alone with the television. Some of the reasons for a lack of time being devoted to the child may be socio-economic factors, the life-style of a working mother, problems between the parents themselves, the necessity of housework, parents working additional jobs, a chronic illness in the family, psychiatric problems of the parents, the child being the product of an unwanted pregnancy, the child’s physical illness, or dozens of other reasons – all of these can affect family life. Because of these, intentionally or not, some parents often cannot pay enough attention to their child; the only thing they are able to do being to keep up physical maintenance (i.e., feeding the child and keeping him or her clean). In these cases, TV comes in and fulfills the role of the parents, and the child ends up spending too much time in front of the television.

Experiencing full emotional sensations and the complete attention of the parents sets the groundwork in the first three years of life for a strong and healthy psychological make-up. Physical contact, talking to the child, making him or her feel that he or she is loved, playing with the child, spending time with the child all have a positive effect on the development of the psycho-social side of the child. Spending time with a baby prevents him or her from becoming alienated in relationships with other people and helps him or her to recognize the social environment, starting with the parents. Along with this relationship, a close tie between the child and the mother develops. This relationship starts in the mother’s womb and continues during infancy. The child begins to be able to communicate and express his or her needs. As time goes on, the child starts to be able to establish a dialog with other people.

Since the basic foundation of communication is speech, children have to learn how to talk. In order to be loved by people, they have to understand people and respond to emotional stimulation. Children need encouragement in order to socialize and develop communication, especially from those who are in charge of the upbringing. This encouragement and approval, attention to the child’s needs (food, clothing, hygiene, safety, etc), paying attention to the child’s problems, spending time with the child, kissing, caressing, talking and playing with the child all go towards helping the child feel that he or she is loved; these constitute an encouragement for the bio-psycho-social development of the child.

The reason we mention all these is so that we can better understand the television-child relationship. When the child is left for a long time in front of a device that does not respond to his or her words, looks and smiles – a device devoid of sensual and social stimulants, without emotion – and when the child is deprived of physical closeness to the person with whom he or she has established close ties – problems will occur as time passes. Although television provides sounds and images, the child is not yet of an age to interpret, accept and benefit from these. The problems developed here will appear later in the form of an incompleteness or inadequateness in the socialization, individualization and the psycho-social aspects of this person.

Why is TV more harmful for children? The child will not have friends or a social environment to make up for the social and sensual incompleteness mentioned above. He or she does not play a role in an interchange, and the child does not have a chance to contribute. Psycho-motor and psycho-social sufficiency has not had a chance to develop and he or she does not have an alternative environment in which to develop.

If a child is less than 3 years old and stays too long (how long changes from child to child, but generally for more than an hour) in front of a television, and particularly if the parents have any of the problems mentioned above that prevent them from spending more time with the child, then some insufficiency and delay can be witnessed in the child’s psycho-social functions. These functions are those that are necessary for the development of social improvement (sensual interaction and responsiveness, adaptation to the social environment, taking an interest in people, showing sympathy to others, paying attention to other children of the same age, etc) and communication (talking, meaningful gestures and mimicry, spelling words out by syllables, perception, making sounds, forming sentences, etc). If such conditions occur, a child psychiatric must also investigate what other reasons may have caused such conditions. The replacement of time that should be spent with other people with time spent before the television has very serious drawbacks.

If the children stay too long in front of the television during this period, some psychiatric abnormalities may develop. The child may show symptoms of indifference to his or her surrounding, for example, he or she may not look around when called, the child may avoid making eye contact, or show indifference to other people and children of the same age, the child may experience difficulties in taking part in emotional or social communication, he or she may try to stay on his or her own, or may display repetitive behavior, like turning around or rocking back and forth, the child may become obsessed with objects, he or she may be slow to speak and construct sentences, or may display problems in establishing dialogue, or the child may be unable to respond sentimentally. Therefore, in order to prevent excesses, it would be appropriate for the parents to put a limit on television for the benefit of normal psycho-motor and psycho-social development in the child.

At the same time, it would be appropriate for both the father and the mother to spend as much time as possible out of their normal daily life with the child, playing with him or her, speaking to the child, showing the child that he or she is loved, showing an affinity with him or her, taking the child out, paying attention to his or her physical needs, paying attention to his or her normal growth stages, laying the ground for communication with other children, sparing some time only to be with the child, telling him or her stories. In short, parents do not have to ban television watching completely for their children, but the appropriate thing for the good of the child is to restrict and balance it with other activities.

Eternal life comes after death and death follows this life, just as day replaces night, spring follows winter, and autumn takes the place of summer. The Creator, Who governs everything and creates the most beautiful and intricate beings out of the basest, seemingly futile materials, does nothing in vain.

In order for us to enjoy the eternal life, therefore, first we must go through death. It is not an annihilation or a total extinction into a void, rather it is a transformation, a change of place, state, and dimension.

Considering the obligations one has to carry and the burdens that must be endured over the course of one’s life, death is the completion of a mission and a release from all of life’s burdens, too. It discharges us from the hardships of worldly life, which become more difficult to endure with the onset of old age and illnesses.

Remembering where we all came from, death is no more than a return to our own essence and truth. It is, therefore, a place to meet our friends who preceded us in the journey to the place where most of our friends have already gone. There, we will enjoy the company of our loved ones forever.

In view of all of these and the fact that death is the beginning of a new life in which we are no longer mortal, death is as desirable as life itself.

Despite all these positive qualities of death, those who cannot grasp its meaning thoroughly always see death as a horrifying event and compose melancholic odes to it. To those who can only see its horrifying superficial meaning, death is the executioner, a bottomless pit, and a dark passage into the void.

It is true that death affects our minds and touches those feelings in us that make us human, since it is a separation from life and the living. It is impossible to deny such an influence or to silence the heart in the face of death. It arouses a massive turmoil in our hearts and minds, but belief in resurrection causes all such sorrows to be forgotten; this is the promise of a kingdom to someone who has lost everything, or an assurance that one is about to be handed eternal life and happiness.

When believers begin to experience death, the beauties and the rewards of Heaven appear before them. Since they consider death as a release from life’s burdens and hardships and they know that everything continues to exist in other realms in a different form and identity, they view death as an advancement and acquisition of a higher essence and nature.

Because every process of advancement and perfection must pass through certain stages, spiritual progress and the subsequent advancement to higher levels also can only come through trials and purifications. For example, crude ores must perish in the purifying furnace before they yield pure metal. Oxygen and hydrogen atoms must die in their separate identities to be reborn as water, a substance vital for life. Every particle that appears to be moving eagerly toward its own apparent extinction is actually running toward the perfection prescribed for it.

All these analogies allude to the fact that while death appears to be an end, a passing into extinction, in reality it is a passing into a higher mode of being.

Each creature in this life presents itself in a unique parade before the presence of the One Who gave it existence. Each being acts out its role and shows its skills. In this respect, death is the time for a being to resign and give over to its successors. As the parade ends for one being it starts for another; this keeps the parade ground from being monotonous and refreshes the scene with new beings. The freshness, liveliness, and the diversity seen in creation are the results of these comings and goings; these should not be seen as being merely a utilitarian way to make room for new generations.

Another aspect of death is that it teaches us silently that nothing is self-existent or has permanence. It constantly reminds us not to long for ephemeral pleasures and to focus on the path that will take us to eternal happiness. Whatever or whoever ensnares our hearts will leave us one day. This causes us to yearn for an eternal being to love and to be loved by. Such a yearning is the first stage of moving toward eternity, and death initiates this desire in our hearts.

The best way of appreciating the existence and value of many things is to think frequently of them as being otherwise, i.e. to think about their non-existence. If we ask ourselves what would have happened if there was no death for the living in this life, then the numerous answers that come to mind justify the necessity of the existence of death.

If there was no death for the living, then the insect populations, populations that multiply faster than many other species, would have covered the earth by now, and it would be extremely difficult and frightening for human beings to find their way through this flood of creatures. It would be extremely difficult to see, in many parts of the world, the fascinating beauties of the earth through the enormous ivy plants that would surround us. Even such simple examples suffice to help us see what a great blessing death is and a great wisdom there is in allowing dead things to decompose.

In conclusion, death is one of the essential elements for sustaining the marvelous harmony and orderliness that prevail on the Earth. Our fear of death comes from our desire for eternity, but death is the very passage to the realms of eternal beauties. Life is but a glimpse of a long journey that has not even yet begun!