It wasn’t…

Worse than that, in the third grade we had to learn about “conversion of units.” I figured it was good source of test problems. So I couldn’t escape from learning it. I admit it was difficult in the beginning. “The strange rule” said if we are to measure with a bigger scale, then we had to divide the number by ten and vice versa. Why was 120 cm equal to 1.2 m? If we knew that it was 120 already why did we bother to say it was also 1.2 in another unit? I got confused whether I should multiply the number by ten or divide by ten? (At least it was easy to multiply or divide by ten instead of another number, so I kept silent.)

In time, I realized that people used the unit to measure almost anything. Length is measured in meters, mass is in kilograms, time is in seconds. Wherever there was quantity, there was also a base-unit associated with it. Of course I never asked what a “second” was, because our teacher said everyone accepted this unit of time. Since it was a world-accepted “standard measure,” I subconsciously got the impression that the universe had a clock* and that people calibrated their time accordingly. In the same way, one kilogram was an absolute quantity in my mind by which every other mass can be measured.

As we grew up, more and more types of measures and units entered our lives: Volt, Joule, Ampere, Newton, and many others. Dealing with the “old” units of length and time was a piece of cake then. However, my faith in “standard measures” as universal remained unchanged until high school.

I was quite surprised in high school when our chemistry teacher told us that our very fundamental units of measures were actually not absolute. They were not fundamental in the sense that they, too, were defined in terms of other quantities. In fact, there is a history of “what to define as a unit” and “how to measure it.”

Let’s take time, for instance. We measure years by days and days by hours. Have we ever thought about why a year is 365 days and one day is 24 hours? Can’t we divide a year into 400 days or a day into 25 hours? Is this an artificial choice or a natural timing? It all depends on how we define a year and a day. We can identify a year by a full rotation of the earth around the sun. Also we can distinguish the beginning of day and night clearly. These are definite intervals of time dictated through our observations, and so there is not much choice other than setting one year at 365 days. Is there a similar fact behind the relation of day to hours? Not at all! It was in ancient Egypt, around 2000 BC, that days for the first time were sliced into 24 pieces of time. In the age of Babylonians, however, a day was designed to be 60 hours. Perhaps the reason for such division of the day (into 24 or 60) hours was that 24 or 60 are nice numbers which are divisible by many integers; the same reason why a full-angle is 360 degrees instead of 2π.

In the Middle Ages, for Muslims, measurement of astronomical phenomena was a very serious affair. They were very concerned about accurate timing. Determining the changing time of the five daily prayers and the beginning and ending of the month of Ramadan was more than a custom, it was a religious duty. And such calculations required high precision. This precision was exemplified in year 1000 AD by the Muslim scholar al-Biruni who gave the times of the new moons in terms of days, hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths after noon Sunday.

In the West, the first accurate time measurements were made by Roger Bacon in thirteenth century. In 1657, Christian Huygens invented the pendulum clock, which uses swinging weights to keep time. Later, Hyugens and William Clement refined the design so that clocks were accurate up to seconds. Another problem with older clocks was that although they worked fine in the local region, they lost accuracy at different parts of the globe and were thus unsuitable for navigation. The reason for the lack of accuracy was that earth’s rotation around the sun on its axis (which definitely affects the period of the pendulums) was not uniform. Several adjustments were made in the nineteenth century for better accuracy by improving the design to compensate for thermal expansion of the metal rods and air drag, which globalized the measurement of time. In 1956, the “second” was redefined in terms of the earth’s revolution around the sun, according to data gathered in year 1900. As the scientists were not completely satisfied, they re-defined the second (as the atomic second) a decade later. In 1967, the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined a second of atomic time in the International System of Units as:

The duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.

Measuring the length was another important task for ancient peoples. Among the earlier civilizations, the most accurate system was developed by Indus Valley Civilization. While their contemporaries were using parts of the body for measurement, as early as 2600 BC, the Indus civilization had a much finer unit system that accounted even for millimeters. Most societies continued to use their own length scale until eighteenth century.

As early as seventeenth century, with the advances in the accurate measurement of time, pendulum motion was suggested to measure standard length. In the eighteenth century, there were two main approaches for measuring the standard unit of length. One suggested defining the meter as the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second. The other suggested defining the meter as one ten-millionth of the length of the Earth’s meridian along a quadrant, which is the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1791, the French Academy of Sciences selected the choice based on the meridian. After several changes in the definition in 1960, the International Bureau of Weight and Measure organized the 11th CGPM (General Conference on Weights and Measure), during which the meter was redefined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of the krypton-86 atom in a vacuum. The final decision came from the 17th CGPM as: “a meter is defined as 1/299,792,458 of a light-second.”

Figure 1. Historical International Prototype Meter bar, made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, was the standard from 1889 to 1960.

As for the measurement of mass, the situation is even more complicated since scientists cannot even agree on what mass is. There are mainly two different understandings of mass based on its features. One is called inertial mass (related to the quantity of a material); the other is gravitational mass (related to gravitational pull and acceleration). Whether these two concepts are equivalent or not is still in debate though in modern theories like Einstein’s general relativity, these two definitions are equivalent. We can, therefore, leave these philosophical discussions about the concept of mass to the scientists and go back to its measurement.

Just like the measurement of time and length, scientific mass measurement gained a boost after the French Revolution. At first, a gram, defined as the absolute mass of 1 cm3 of water at 0o C, was chosen as the standard. In 1799, scientists made a slight modification to the unit of mass by re-setting the definition at 4oC since it is the temperature at which water is most stable. Later, officials noticed that this unit was too small to be a standard of everyday commercial materials, which usually appear in large amounts. In 1889, the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK), made of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium (by weight), was designed to define the standard mass (Figure 2). After the first production, several more stable replicas of IPK have been produced to replace the older ones. Today every government who subscribes to this standard must have an exact copy of IPK, and these replicas must be returned to Paris periodically as they may get rusted or dirty with time.

Figure 2. Shown above is a computer-generated image of the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK). The IPK is made of a platinum-iridium alloy and is stored in a vault at the BIPM in Sèvres, France.

These facts may sound very odd to some, as it did to me when I first heard of them. I asked myself: If all these measures are defined in terms of something else, what is the point of defining them in the first place? For example, if we can agree to use the second as some interval of time, why do we bother to count the number of oscillations of Cesium. The answer is: We cannot agree unless we use a reference time which is geography-free, climate-free, and politics-free. Only then we will be sure that I, here in Western Pennsylvania, a person on the top of Everest, or a person in a submarine under the Pacific Ocean will call the same interval of time a “second.” In other words, the oscillation of the cesium isotope was believed to be free from all possible deficiencies that are results of physical location (Australia or America), environmental change (the Amazon Forests or the Sahara Desert), and politics.

In short, sand-clocks for measuring time (think of what kind of sand in what shape of glass tube) or the arm of a king as a length unit (imagine a king who seized the throne at 13 and died at 60), or weighing with iron cylinders (common in small grocery stores in some countries) is too unreliable, too unstable, too local, and of course, inaccurate to create a standard. Especially in this age of globalization, a consensus on measurement is absolutely necessary.

It seems a bit ironic that a simple-looking concept of science, measurement, could cause such controversy. A simple way to keep track of numbers that belong to different kind of quantities evolved into an area of serious research through time. Perhaps then, I should have not worried that much about my bad math grades on a subject which troubled the scientist themselves. After all, my grades were just my teacher’s own measurement.**

O. S. Caglayan has a PhD in mathematics. He is a freelance writer. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

* This famous quotation attributed to Newton was opposed by Leibnizian view of time: “The universe is the clock.” The scientist as philosopher, Friedel Weinert, Springer; 1 edition (May 27, 2004)

** The author is indebted to his dear elementary school teacher Muazzez Ozalp for instilling in him the love of science.

References

1. G. J. Toomer. Ptolemey’s Almagest (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998)
2. The History of Time (Leofranc Holfrod-Strevens).
3. al-Biruni (1879). The chronology of ancient nations: an English version of the Arabic text “Vestiges of the Past”. London: W.H. Allen, 147-149. OCLC 9986841.
4. Matthew Bennett, Michael F. Schatz, Heidi Rockwood and Kurt Wiesenfeld, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 2002 458, 563-579.
5. Ian Whitelaw. A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement, St. Martin’s Press, 2007.
6. http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/meter.html
7. www.bipm.org/eng/home

He was few minutes late for the meeting, but not so late as to be unacceptable. After the meeting was over, Adam went to his office. He had a lot of things to do: a report was due in two weeks, there was to be a presentation for a project he had just finished, a proposal for a new project, and a bunch of minor office tasks. However, he did not feel like doing any of them at the moment; moreover, they all could wait a few minutes. He was curious about the up-coming election, so he decided to read the news online. Then he felt the need to look up on the latest technology news. Without noticing, he spent nearly an hour reading the news.

Adam then felt compelled to start preparing his presentation. He was intelligent and the project was innovative; now was the time to prepare the best possible presentation. He outlined the presentation in his mind and started working on the first slide. He spent quite a bit of time on the first slide, but he could not get it right; every time he tried something, he saw that it was not perfect and started again from scratch. Finally, he exhausted his energy and motivation and decided that preparing the presentation for this project was too difficult and postponed working on it later that day.

He decided to move to the report task, but first he needed a break. It was around 1 p.m. and it was time for the noon prayer, but this was not urgent, he thought; he could do it later. He decided to take a break and check his emails. He quickly checked his three email accounts to see if he had any unread messages-there was a message in one of the accounts. It was from his high school friend asking how he was doing. He was busy right now, and decided that he did not have the time to answer; he signed out. Finally, he started writing something for the report. Even though he had planned to work on the report last week, he had not been able to do it, not because he did not have enough time, but because it had not been due and he decided that it could wait. He started working on the report, but he noticed that the software he was using to write the report was notifying him of a feature update. Because he did not feel like working on the report, he went ahead and downloaded the update. Installing it took some time. Even though it was completely unnecessary at that moment, he convinced himself that it was worthwhile, at least for the future.

He jotted down some notes for the report. While he was working on it, his friend from the next office came and asked him if he could join them to play basketball at the weekend. He told him that even though he would very much like to join them, he was very busy and had no time nowadays. The time for the noon prayer was nearly over. He hurried up and performed the obligatory part of the prayer quickly. As for the voluntary prayers, he had no time for them right now.

After the prayer he remembered that he still needed to write the proposal for next week. He was planning to work on it this week, but, because he had not worked on the report last week, he had to work on that now instead of the proposal.

Without having realized it, it was nearly 6 p.m. already. He was married, so he did not want to stay in the office. After all, he could work on the report at home, he thought. He went back home, had dinner with his wife; his wife mentioned that it had been a long time since they had seen a movie together and wondered if they could go and see one. He told his wife that even though he would very much like to, he was too busy this week; perhaps they could go next week. He remembered that he said the same thing last week; he had worked well last week so he would have time this week. He knew that he was not working very efficiently, and he was not able to do so, even though he wanted to. He condemned himself of being lazy and not a very good husband.

Weeks passed. Adam continued the same style of lethargic life; he was carrying out all his duties (his job, volunteering tasks, duties as a husband, etc.) at the bare minimum; he was neither satisfied nor completely unhappy. However, his wife was not happy with the whole process; every time she asked something from Adam, he would promise to do it later; however this would almost always be delayed indefinitely. Once at the weekend she asked Adam whether they could go out. Adam said that he was very busy; perhaps they could go out later that day or next week. This time, his wife told Adam that she no longer had confidence in him. He was shocked; he had not expected such a response. He tried to explain himself to his wife by saying that every promise he had made was with sincere intentions, but his wife did not believe even this explanation. He said he was sorry, but his wife did not accept his apology as this was the hundredth time he had apologized. Adam felt that the most important thing between a husband and a wife was trust; losing this meant losing everything. He felt terrible; he tried to explain everything, but nothing pleased his wife. He felt exhausted; he blamed his wife not being more understanding and left.

Adam spent hours thinking about what had gone wrong. Indeed, his wife was right; every time she asked for something, he would promise to do it and even though he was sincere in his promise, he would put it off indefinitely. He felt awful about the whole situation, but he was not able to rectify it. Then he thought about all the promises that he had made to God, almost all of which he had broken. Then, he shivered with the thought of “what if God also says that He does not trust me anymore?” And what if God told him that He had given Adam enough chances and that he had used them all up, that he had none left and therefore, there is no need for him to be alive any longer? That would be a horrible end indeed.

It was time for the afternoon prayer. After the prayer, he made the following supplication over and over again: “Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtle, the Aware” (Mulk 67:14). Thus, he asked for help from the One Who is aware of everything, Who is the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful, and the All-Powerful.

This time, he was determined to solve the lethargy problem. First, he contemplated about what were the causes of being lethargic.

Indeed, Adam was very lethargic and there were many reasons for it. It was not that he wanted to be a lazy person; on the contrary, he wanted to succeed; he could be smart and successful when he put his energy into a task. However, he was very disorganized; because he did not assign tasks to different time slots, he could easily spend those times on tasks that seemed necessary but actually were unnecessary, such as spending long minutes or even hours reading the news, installing feature updates, etc. He was a perfectionist; he wanted to make the final product (report, presentation, etc.) perfect; this is a good habit to have. However, being a perfectionist made him overcritical of himself, and this dampened his desire to work. He procrastinated; procrastination made his tasks pile higher and deeper; delaying one task caused delays to others. The constant thought of piled-up tasks constantly preoccupied him and as a result he had no time to reply to his emails, no time for the optional prayers, no time for sports, no time for entertainment, and no time to read books, etc. However, had he set aside some time to do sports; however to support hard work he would have to have a healthier body and mind, he needed to set aside an hour for relaxation, and not spend long hours on the web surfing while thinking “I should not be doing this right now” at the back of his mind, yet at the same time he had to be able to relax and start the next day with a fresh mind.

To solve these problems, he would have to eliminate the causes; however, most importantly, he needed energy and determination. He had neither. Then, he remembered: “My Lord would not care for you were it not for your prayer” (Furqan 25:77). Indeed, he was too weak to depend on himself alone, but he had learned that if he depended on God he could be the most powerful person in the world. He remembered all the things he had read and learned… The importance of “In the Name of God,” the need to put his trust in God, the fact that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had a prayer for almost every occasion, that it is very important not to sleep at dawn, that one should perform their daily prayers as early as one can, that one should eat, sleep and talk less, and that eating much meant sleeping much, that our Prophet used to go to bed after the night prayer, the importance of lawful earning and legitimate food, that the work between two prayers is counted as worship, that he should not leave today’s task for tomorrow, that he should know the value of free time before he became too busy, and so on. He felt that he could not do all of these; but once again, he remembered the verse above. However, he did not know where to start. Then, he recited: “Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtle, the Aware” (Mulk 67:14) and while making the prayer, he knew that God knew everything about him and that Adam had to extricate himself from this problem but he was not successful. He asked for help; he asked for solutions to all his problems, dilemmas, troubles and obstacles.

He thought of starting a new life-style tomorrow morning, but then he remembered that it was Satan who was whispering him to start “tomorrow”; he needed to put an end to this miserable life right now. He went back home; dinner was waiting. He thought “what a patient wife I have; we had a quarrel, yet she still prepared dinner for me.” The food was very good, but he did not eat much. First of all, he was not feeling well, but he also wanted to practice the “eat less” principle. When it was time for the night prayer, he immediately rushed to his prayer rug; he knew that if he does not pray now, he will delay it at least two hours. After the prayer, he went to bed.

He woke up early in the morning; he was able to wake up early because he had not slept with a full stomach, and he had gone to bed early. He made the supplication “All praise belongs to God; He gave me life after my death; we shall return to Him. There is no god but God. O God; increase my knowledge. Do not let me go astray after you have guided me to the straight path. Grant me mercy. Indeed You are the Bestower.” He thanked God for giving him another chance.

He performed the morning prayer and he thought about some of the wisdoms inherent in the morning prayer: By nature man is extremely weak, yet everything touches him, saddens and grieves him. Also, he is utterly lacking in power, yet the calamities and enemies that afflict him are extremely numerous. Also, he is extremely wanting, yet his needs are indeed many. Also, he is lazy and incapable, yet the responsibilities of life are most burdensome. Also, his humanity has connected him to the rest of the universe, yet the decline and disappearance of the things he loves and with which he is familiar continually pains him. Also, his reason shows him exalted aims and lasting fruits, yet his reach is short, his life brief, his power slight, and his patience little. Thus, it can be clearly understood how essential it is for a spirit in this state to have recourse to and present a petition to the Court of an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Compassionate All-Beauteous One at the time of prayer in the early morning through prayer and supplication, to seek success and help from Him; this is an essential support so that one can face the things that will happen to them in the coming day and bear the duties that will be loaded on them. He then sought refuge in God from laziness. He was feeling energetic, but still very deep in thoughts of all the things that had happened yesterday.

He felt very sleepy, but he resisted going to bed; in order to wake himself up, he took a shower. After the shower, he recited a few pages from the Qur’an. He was feeling very ashamed every moment he felt he was in the presence of God, but interestingly, he was also feeling very close to God.

After having a light breakfast, Adam left for the office. It was pretty early in the morning. When he arrived at work, he made a list of the things he needed to do. Then, he divided his day into five, according to the five daily prayers; he put the prayers down on his list first. He was determined to perform them as early as he could. Then, he arranged the other tasks between the prayers.

Now, it was the time to start the first task. It was a new project and it was always difficult to take the first step. He pushed himself to start the task, but he could not start. He was about to give up; then, he remembered the power and the treasures hidden inside “bismillah” (in the name of God).” He recited it and he also recited “O God, make it easy for me, not difficult. O God, finish it with a good and beneficial end.” Adam felt a little better; he recited the words a few more times. He was able to take the first step and the rest just followed.

When he tired of one task, he said “All Praise belongs to God, Alhamdulillah” for each task, and he moved onto the next with bismillah. But, after about two hours, he felt very tired. He was inclined to read the news, to relax; but he resisted. He asked himself “What purpose does reading the news serve right now? Relaxation? I don’t remember ever being relaxed after reading news. Being up to date about current events? Well, I’ll do that towards the end of the day when my mind is more tired.” He then went outside to get some fresh air. After a 10-minute break, he returned and realized that he could complete one more task before the prayer. He started the task with bismillah and before he knew it, it was time for the prayer and the task had been complete.

Now it was time for the noon prayer. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Adam thought about some of the wisdom of the noon prayer: the time of noon prayer, just past midday is the time of the day’s zenith and the start of its decline; the time when daily labors approach their achievement, the time of a short rest from the pressure of work, when the spirit needs a pause from the heedlessness and insensibility caused by toil, and a time when Divine bounties are manifest. Everyone can then understand how fine and agreeable, how necessary and appropriate it is to perform the midday prayer for the human spirit, as it is a means to be released from the pressure, to shake off the heedlessness, and leave behind those meaningless, transient things, clasping one’s hands at the Court of the True Bestower of Bounties, the Eternally Self-Subsistent One, offering praise and thanks for all His gifts, and seeking help from Him; through bowing one display one’s impotence before His Glory and Tremendousness, and prostrates and proclaims one’s wonder, love, and humility. He performed his prayer with great humility and submission. He was able to refresh himself with the prayer; he reminded himself of the source of the power and he reminded himself that the work between two prayers counted as a type of worship. While praying, Adam forgot all about work and his mind was rested. He made a supplication at the end of the prayer, thanking God for all the things He had given him and thanking Him for the work he had been able to complete in the morning; he also asked for help for the rest of the day and the rest of his life.

After the noon prayer, Adam continued his tasks that had not been finished in the morning. When he became tired, he took a book out of his bag and spent some time reading it as a break and then he returned back to work. When it was time for the final task on his list for that day, he remembered that the task was not due for another week, so he thought about delaying it. However, he remembered that he should not leave today’s tasks for tomorrow.

The day passed. It was a very productive day; he felt that time had expanded. Maybe, it had expanded because he had recited prayers in the morning, maybe it had expanded because he had not remained asleep at dawn, or perhaps there was some other reason. Whatever the reason was, it was a bounty from God and he thanked Him for it. Adam once again felt a great humility in front of God.

A few days passed like this. Adam would perform the night prayer on time and he would go to bed after the prayer, making supplications when he woke up; he would not sleep after the morning prayer, but rather recited supplications before he left for work. He was very happy throughout this time, but it was not easy. He felt that he did not have the same motivation or energy that he had had at the beginning. He was about to lapse again. He knew that to remain on this track would not be easy. From all his experience he knew that every time he made a resolution to adopt a new style of life, it would only last a few days. But, this time, Adam was more determined than ever. First of all, he was sick of being lethargic and all the results of this lethargy. It was destroying his life; his time was passing unused and he was not fulfilling his promises to his wife or those to God. He really wanted to put an end to all of this and he was successful for a few days. Adam was now afraid that he would revert to his former life-style. Then, he prayed: “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from You; for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.”

He finally decided to talk to his wife about the situation. He explained things to her, he discussed the lethargy and that he had constantly been fighting it for so long, but that he had not been successful. It was the cause behind all the broken promises. But, this time, he was very determined; he was constantly praying and he was also looking for different sources of information to solve the problem. He also told his wife that solving this problem would not be easy and it was possible that he would revert to his old habits on occasion, more frequently in the beginning than towards the end. He asked for her help in the entire process; he asked for her encouragement and he asked her to support him lest he stumbled. His wife felt the great pain that her husband was experiencing and she also felt the great determination he had. Additionally, she had witnessed very positive changes within the last few days. She said she would always be with him. Adam also talked about the process that he was going through with his best friend and he asked for help from him as well.

Things got better with every passing day; he was stumbling every now and then, but the frequency of such events was decreasing. He was very happy about all the goodness that had emerged from the “good work and determination” and he was very grateful to God for this blessing.

Finally, this manner of life became the norm, and his earlier life-style now seemed quite unnatural. In fact, Adam started wondering why he had led such a life. He repented all those lost days and hours. He decided to help his friends who were struggling with the same problem.

He knew that merely relating his journey to his friends would not help them much. They needed to find the causes, they need to be determined, etc., but most importantly of all, they needed to take action. However, he also knew from experience that taking action and continuing it for a long time was the most difficult part and that his friends might be too weak to do so. Well, they were human beings and this is the way things are; they were meant to feel weak without the help of God, for what value is anything if we do not have prayer?

And, as a first step in helping his friends, Adam changed the tone of his prayers; the “me” was replaced with “us” and he felt his friends’ pain in his supplications. He then remembered “O you who believe! If you will help (the cause of) God, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.” (Muhammad 47:7).

The scene depicts an ordinary day in a metropolitan city. People are crossing the streets, perhaps going to work. There are traffic lights and so on. However, it is just a simulation program; all the actions of the people and all the events in the environment were predetermined. We can imagine questions popping into Neo’s mind: “Is the universe really a kind of simulation? Does God interfere with the universe or does it operate like a machine?” and followed by “Is it possible to compute someone’s fate? Does free will exist?”

Neo would neither be the first nor the last to ask similar questions. Until the 1930s, the answers to these questions were sometimes influenced by the idea of scientific determinism which considered the universe like the one in The Matrix. A paradigm shift took place in 1930s when two brilliant scientists proposed their ground breaking studies on non-determinism. Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle considered the phenomenal aspects of non-determinism in the universe. First, we will have a short journey through the idea of scientific determinism. Then, we will investigate non-determinism and its consequences.

The idea of scientific determinism

The term ‘scientific determinism’ is defined to be the computability of future states, given the current state and a computer that has sufficiently large computation capacity. Suppose we take a snapshot of the universe at a particular time, or press the pause key and freeze the universe such as the example from The Matrix. What scientific determinism says briefly in simple terms is that by looking at that entire picture of the moment, the picture of the next second can be calculated using the laws and formulas of physics. On a large scale and in the long term, this idea leads to an exact computation of a moment of the universe given the initial conditions and its governing laws at the time of its creation. This is the key point for some scientific determinists who exclude the Divine work in the universe; if God exists, He only sets the initial conditions and the physical laws of the universe. Then the universe works on its own like a machine.

The first modern idea of scientific determinism was articulated by Newton in 18th century. Newton believed that all the laws governing the universe could be deduced from formulas, and these formulas could be derived by following the scientific method. First of all, science requires consistency among all known formulas and theories. This led the German mathematician David Hilbert to tackle the problem of proving the consistency of arithmetic in 1900s. One way of showing the consistency of arithmetic was to prove or disprove infinite number of statements in arithmetic, which was practically impossible! Instead, a clever idea was to develop a methodology that will generate the proof or disproof of a given arbitrary statement in arithmetic. If that methodology existed and was shown to be correct, that would be the happy ending of the story. Motivated by this problem in 1913, Alfred Whitehead and Bertrand Russell wrote their work, Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work on the foundations of mathematics. It was an attempt to derive all mathematical truths without the requirement of human intuition. They utilized symbolic logic, since it has a profound methodology for proving statements.

Later, this work would have played a fundamental role for proving the correctness / incorrectness of any statement in the universe. As an ultimate goal, by deducing all the information that belongs to a certain time of the universe, it would have been possible to compute the exact situation of the universe at an arbitrary time, which we mentioned before.

The fall of scientific determinism

At that time, Principia Mathematica left two questions open:

• Could a contradiction be derived from the Principia’s axioms (the question of inconsistency)?

• Does a mathematical statement which could neither be proved nor disproved in the system (the question of completeness) exist?

These questions were the heart of the discussion, and they had to be both answered as ‘no’ by Principia Mathematica to be deterministic. We have already explained the necessity of consistency before. On the other hand, some states cannot be calculated in an incomplete system which violates the determinism.

In 1931, Gödel published his famous article “On formally undecidable propositions of Principia Mathematica and related systems.” This work claims to refute the claims of scientific determinists about deriving all mathematical truths from logical systems. In his article, Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem showed that sufficiently complex systems (such as the ones described in Principia Mathematica and the physical laws of the universe) could not be complete and consistent at the same time. Gödel proved his theorem using a genius idea, which was by showing that a similar statement to “This statement cannot be proved” can be expressed in any sufficiently complex logical systems. Hence, one who proves it will create an inconsistency in the formal system, or it will be considered as improvable, violating the completeness rule of the formal system.

Another stroke to scientific determinism came from Heisenberg in 1927 with his famous Uncertainty Principle. Heisenberg asserted that both the velocity and the position of a particle cannot be accurately measured at the same time. Measurement requires interfering with the particle in terms of position or velocity. Observation becomes a part of the outcome which is in fact not known to be the real outcome. In short, uncertainty principle implies that the particle positions can only be calculated as a probability distribution.

One can object that this effect may be a result of our lack of the knowledge needed to find out the facts about particle position and velocity. However, Copenhagen’s interpretation of Quantum mechanics is commonly accepted, and it states that the problem of uncertainty is not epistemological but ontological; i.e., the problem is not due to the limits of scientific knowledge but depends on the constitution of the universe . From a mathematical aspect, Gödel’s theorem strongly asserts the same fact.

Consequences of non-determinism

Non-determinism in the Universe brought back earlier concepts categorized as meta-physical, such as ‘fate’ and ‘free will,’ into the debate about scientific knowledge for further investigation, and made a phenomenal change in the perspectives on the existence of God.

In The Matrix, remember the scene wherein Neo says “Deja vu” after he sees the black cat for the second time at the stairs of the apartment. Then Trinity tells him that it happened due to a change in the Matrix. The free will of Neo and his friends causes the failure of the deterministic nature of the Matrix; the Matrix cannot make exact calculation of their actions and foresee the future. Instead, it alters the simulation program based on their actions. Now, the concept of fate is not a predetermined destiny in the Matrix; it involves the human free will, hence nobody knows what will happen in the future, including the Matrix itself.

Free will requires the ability to make choices independent from deterministic constraints. A friend of yours offers you to take one of two identical apples, and you take one of them. If it was possible to rewind time and get back to the moment of the offer, this time you might choose the other apple. Note that the states are precisely the same; the entire history of the events in the universe is exactly the same as the one in previous scenario. This is the key point: in two equivalent states of the universe; i.e., all conditions are exactly the same, free will allows you to choose different options in these two states. This situation contrasts with a deterministic universe however well suits to a non-deterministic one.

Another major consequence is about the Creator’s role in the universe. As mentioned before, scientific determinism can reduce the concept of ‘God’ into the following statement [4, 6]:

• If there is a God, He created the universe, set the initial conditions and the laws, and left it the way it works. He doesn’t interfere with its execution.

By non-determinism, this statement can no longer be regarded as the absolute truth. Instead of clearly determined outcomes in the future time frames, Quantum mechanics introduced the notion of probabilities. In each decision point (i.e., quantum time frames or every single moment), there are many possible outcomes. That means either there is an entire ‘randomness’ or there is a Decision Maker that decides at these decision points and controls the flow of all actions in the universe. In case of randomness, it is always possible to reach a ‘failure state’. However, the universe has never failed for billions of years. Here, the failure state is not the ending of the universe or Armageddon, because these states are internally consistent. Failure state means to get the ‘blue screen’ as in Windows; suddenly everything stops or perishes. ‘Failure’ can be described as an unexpected error that leads unrecoverable / unhandled error which crushes the operating system. At this point, the universe needs to restart in order to start everything from the beginning. The idea of randomness in the course of actions is strongly opposed by Einstein as stated in his famous saying “God doesn’t play dice.”

So the question is “how can the concepts ‘God’, ‘fate’ and ‘free will’ be related to each other?” Now, we may say the following statements about fate: it is not computable, it is not random (due to the definition of fate), and free will is possible. In this case, we have two options:

• there is no free will – God controls all the events and free will is not involved in it,

• there is free will – God incorporates free will in his creation of the upcoming states

According to the second idea, we have been given the right to choose among limited amount of options and then God creates the chosen option. For instance, I would like to move my arm and show the tendency to move it. So, God creates necessary conditions such as the pulse from the brain that orders the arm to move, and the arm moves. Of course, He always preserves the right not to create the things according to my will. In that case, the arm doesn’t move – I might have a stroke or might not have sufficient strength or something else might happen.

Consequently, in case of free will, fate becomes all the outcomes of God’s will by including free will in the universe. But “God knows everything, everything that will be in the future. Then, doesn’t that mean the universe is deterministic?” As we mentioned above, determinism requires the computation of future states. However the Creator knows the fate with His infinite knowledge by overseeing the entire system but not computing. Here, computation and knowledge are two different concepts; knowledge may not be acquired by computation. If somebody shows us the result of a multiplication of two numbers, we learn the result by seeing it but not computing it.

Non-determinism in the universe might be considered as the beginning of a re-marriage between science and meta-physics. Non-determinism implies that it is not reasonable to absolutely reject Divine work in the operation of the universe and the idea of free will. The concepts that are considered to be currently meta-physical such as fate and free will need further investigation in the physical sciences.

Fatih Gelgi has a PhD in computer science. He is currently the computer coordinator of Accord AMSP team in Los Angeles.

References

[1] K. Devlin. “Kurt Gödel – Separating Truth from Proof in Mathematics,” Science, 298: 1899-2000, 2002.

[2] F. Gelgi. “Implications of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem on Artificial Intelligence vs. Mind,” The Fountain Magazine, 46, 2004.

[3] K. Gödel. “Uber formal unentscheidbare Satze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter Systeme I,” Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik, 38: 173-98, 1931.

[4] S. Hawking. Brief History of Time, Bantam Dell Publishing, Ed. 10, 1988.

[5] E. Nagel, J. R. Newman. Gödel’s Proof, New York University Press, 2001.

[6] C. Taslaman. Kuantum Teorisi Felsefe ve Tanri, Istanbul Yayinevi, 2008.

[7] Wikipedia, “Principia Mathematica,” retrieved on Feb 27, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica.

Notes

1. Interested reader may refer to [5] for the detailed and understandable explanation of Gödel’s proof.
2. For details see “Chapter 4: Uncertainty Principle” in [4].
3. Different interpretations of Quantum physics can be found in [6] or at: http://kuantum.gen.tr.

As citizens of this macro-reality, we can often feel as if we are but pawns in the vast global chess game being played by multinational corporations, traditional superpowers, new and emerging nuclear powers, and the economic pushbuttons of development and consumer capitalism. Within such a world, some may find it difficult to believe that our individual choices can make a difference in our communities. So what if a few dozen or even a few hundred people in our city get together for an interfaith meal? So what if families from different cultures living together in a town get to know each other? What difference does it make in the end? Political powers and other forces call the larger shots and will send us all into war and conflict if they so desire. Human nature being what it is, we will succumb to our baser instincts in hard times no matter how many positive interfaith or intercultural experiences we’ve had with others.

Critics of interfaith dialogue often make this case. They point to examples from Bosnia, the Middle East, Kashmir, Punjab, Rwanda and elsewhere to illustrate that people who coexist peacefully for centuries can be manipulated into barbarically killing each other relatively quickly. Tyrants, insurgents and other power-seekers have learned that cultural, ethnic, and/or religious differences can form natural fault lines in a given communal fabric, which can be exploited by skillful media messaging and the opportunistic staging of current events into powerfully persuasive political theater. Once the mass media have been harnessed, if not outright hijacked, power seekers can move populations as if mountains – whipping up mass fear, anger, hysteria and eventually an appetite for genocide.

Interfaith dialogue seems no match for these gargantuan modern monstrosities. And, in many cases, it isn’t. The warmly felt bonds of interfaith harmony that thrive in times of relative peace and prosperity chill easily in times of strife and hardship, especially when political, economic or national security interests are at stake. In such times, usually all but a few individuals will succumb to fear, and then retreat to their respective religio-ethnic corners to prepare for a fight. The individuals who maintain their commitment to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors resist the fight, try to save their friends who have suddenly become “the enemy” because of their religion or ethnicity, and often lose their lives in the process. They may be heroes, to be sure, but they are dead. And they do not win in the end; the warmongers do – at least, most of the time.

But not all the time. Occasionally, we find exceptions to this all too common trajectory in human socio-political relations. Situations wherein populations held themselves together despite enormous pressures to fight and kill one another. Where community leaders resisted the gravitational pull of hatred that strips them of their voices and replaces them with those of fear mongers and peddlers of hatred. When we find these exceptions, we must review and analyze the exact conditions that made them possible in the first place, and determine if they can be replicated in other situations of strife and war.

I encountered such an exceptional situation this past spring while visiting Croatia. Fuzine is one of several quaint mountain villages in the district of Gorski Kotar in northern end of the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. I recently listened to the former governor of the district and a local radio producer tell their stories from the period of the war in 1991.

A Yugoslavian Army base camp was built near the district, on top of a hill. Normally, the existence of this base would have been the beginning of the end for peaceful relations between the Croat and Serbian villages of the district. Croats would view the base as a danger and a provocation, as well as a support camp to the Serbian villages. The Serbians, for their part, would have used the base as a “back-up” for their own violence against their Croat neighbors. Since violence begets violence, Croats or Serbs would make the first strike and the cycle would begin. Many would die, the villages would be destroyed, and the resulting “life” would resemble existence on the surface of the moon.

That’s not what happened.

In a stunning turn of events, the municipal leaders of all the villages – Serb and Croat – approached the base commanders and established a relationship with them. After several meetings, it became clear that none of them wanted either to shoot at each other or to be shot. So, they made a written agreement that constituted the “terms” of their coexistence during those months. For example, when the Yugoslav army was required to fire on the villages, per orders from up the chain of command, they warned the citizens ahead of time and instructed them on how to survive the barrage. They provided the citizens with maps of the mines they laid. The village leaders returned the favor and provided base commanders with a “heads up” when they were forced, by public opinion and the radical fringe, to fire on the army base. The local radio producer treated the army base as another “village” in the district and reported its news, events, and played music for the troops, etc. They called the families of wounded guards to apologize – and did so publicly on the radio – when radical elements in their midst broke the agreement and fired on the soldiers. Media reports stayed ahead of the rumor mills, reported the facts of things, and controlled the message to minimize the inflammatory impact of the angry rhetoric coming from other sources.

As a result of the extraordinary bravery and commitment from people on both sides, no one from the district was killed and no one was taken to a wartime prison camp.

Leaders on both sides suffered consequences. Two of the base commanders went to prison for 12 years. One of them disappeared into the mists of “the system” while the other was killed by civilians after being released. The radio producer in Gorski Kotar was banned from media and only recently has begun to work again. Other city leaders voluntarily disappeared into anonymity – this story was kept quiet at first – so as to avoid persecution and death for their actions.

Upon analysis, a few things stand out about this exceptional situation. First of all, there were conditions on the ground that the village leaders exploited to their advantage. The Gorski Kotar district was somewhat geographically remote from the heart of the fighting during the war. As such, neither the base nor the villagers had direct daily involvement in the heart of the war’s operations. Without interventions for peace that could have certainly changed, and the district could have become an additional center or “theater” of the war; however, the interventions took advantage of the district’s “off the beaten path” status. An additional opportunity came in the fact that one of the base commanders was nearing retirement, weary of his job and of fighting, and was inclined to strike a deal with the villagers as long as he could save face. Therefore, when village leaders approached him and his colleagues with a plan for peaceful coexistence, they were ready to negotiate a plan that would let both sides fly under the radar of the larger war and possibly come away from it largely unscathed.

Secondly, media leaders took their share of responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the arrangement with the base camp, as well as for keeping the peace between the villages during particularly tense weeks. Put simply, radio and print media controlled the message in favor of peace. When infractions to the agreement happened from time to time, from both sides, reporting of the story was done in the least inflammatory way possible. For example, when the base camp did an obligatory firing on the villages (after warning the villagers of the times and locations) and accidentally damaged the radio transmission tower, the base commander sent his own soldiers to repair it immediately so that broadcasts could resume as soon as possible. More importantly, this fact was reported to the community so as to minimize anger and outrage over the incident. In short, media operatives used their power for peace and not for war. They recognized the power of media to incite, enflame, and create the larger narrative in which people experience things in their communities. Through skillful messaging and the coordination of communication lines, they maintained and nurtured the agreement for peace through its many months, creating the very conditions for peaceful coexistence.

Finally, we can see that community leaders in the villages refused to relinquish immediately their roles as leaders to the larger forces of the army. They easily could have done otherwise. Once the base camp was established, they could have decided that war was now inevitable, that their little villages stood no chance to resist the war tide rolling towards them, and that each village needed to now begin fortifying themselves against the army and each other, and prepare to fight and die.

They didn’t do this. Instead, they banded together, created a plan, and took a huge risk in walking up the hill to the base camp and presenting it to the commanders. The creativity, courage and will power this required of them simply cannot be overstated. In the end, this human element is what makes the ultimate difference. Human beings are endowed with self-consciousness, agency and imagination, which allows us to not only visualize alternative scenarios in any given situation, but also to imagine and implement alternative courses of action within them – for ourselves and for others. These leaders together resisted the war tide, created an alternative possibility for their district, and bravely took radical steps to implement it. And it worked. Not flawlessly, but enough to keep their people, their homes and their way of life from going up in flames.

Can what happened in Gorski Kotar work everywhere? No and yes. No, in the sense that certain conditions in place on the ground in this district that contributed to the peace are not in place ubiquitously. Most army base commanders aren’t open to illegal agreements with “enemy” villagers. Not all regional or district leaders – in the media or otherwise – have working relations good enough to band together in wartime to create and implement such a thing as this. Many other factors prevent any one exception, such as what happened in Gorski Kotar, from providing a stable template for peace easily applicable to any other situation. These situations are exceptions, after all.

Nevertheless, what happened here can be instructive for other areas. The positive and necessary role of media in maintaining the peace agreement in Gorski Kotar is abundantly clear. Those who find themselves in similar situations of religious and ethnic conflict will do well to procure access to media, if possible, sooner rather than later in order to shape the messaging toward peace and restraint, away from hatred and violence. Today’s 21st century media technology resists totalitarian control in important ways, as recent events in Iran, China and even North Korea indicate. Those with skills can exploit media for peace as well as for war.

Finally, in the end, much turns on the simple power of human agency and choice, and the willingness of people to join together and exercise that agency in the direction of peace in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. Of course, such principled action plans don’t always make a difference. In fact, such plans may often fail in times of war. But, they certainly have no chance of success at all if people give up on the fight from the beginning and refuse even to attempt to alter the course of things. On this point, people on the brink of war in all sorts of situations have at least a chance – perhaps not a big chance, but a chance nevertheless – to turn the tide in another direction, or at least to reduce the body count and carnage.

I am haunted by an image one of the community leaders in Gorski Kotar used in telling us their story when we met with them. The radio producer told us that media flies “as fast as a bird, as fast as the speed of light” even; however, it typically arrives after the dead bodies already lay on the ground. The producer and the other leaders in the community wanted to avoid bodies on the ground altogether. They wanted media to be faster than the dead.

It seems, in this case at least, they succeeded.

B. Jill Carroll is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University.

Some modern Western scholars would ascribe the long-lasting existence of Ottoman rule to oppression and a strong military presence. According to this view, it was fear and terror that brought authority and control over at least the Balkans, a dominantly Christian territory. Careful and accurate scholarship, however, has revealed that this was certainly not the case. The majority of historical sources and archives have so far disclosed highly advanced administrative skills in the Ottoman state affairs. The most recent scholarly works, both popular and academic, have unanimously praised and applauded the Ottomans’ cultural and social contributions to the regions they administered, as well as their equitable treatment of their subjects over long periods of time. The Ottoman experience of social and cultural life provides valuable lessons for those nations that live in these regions today: The value of putting aside ethnic, religious and cultural differences, of living together and cooperating for a better future, and the sacredness of human life and the respect for the right of others to live, as well as freedom of expression and religion all existed in this state.

Historically speaking, Western Europe has always been in contact with the Ottomans through commerce or other forms of international relations. Diplomacy in the Middle Ages and afterwards was made possible by ambassadors. These ambassadors would conduct negotiations regarding disputes and sign new agreements. The observations of these special envoys about their visits formed first-hand reliable information about the unknown “others.” For example, in the year 800 AD, on one of these occasions long before the Ottomans, Charlemagne sent an envoy to Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliph, with gifts. On his part, the Caliph also sent many gifts to Charlemagne, one famous one being a clock. In a similar vein, many ambassadors had the chance to see and study Ottoman life closely during their visits. These visits considerably increased in number with the agreement of concessions granted by the Ottomans. The ambassadors would often record their experiences as notes or letters, which have proven to be of indispensable value for us today in studying an era and civilization about which not much is known.

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1520–1592) was one such ambassador for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand. He came to Turkey and wrote about the life in Ottoman lands and their public administration practices. Busbecq grew up at Busbecq Castle as the son of the reputable Busbecq family. He studied in famous schools and like his father and grandfather he followed a career as a servant of the crown. He was first sent to England in 1554, and then appointed as ambassador to the Ottomans under the rule of Süleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul from 1555 to 1562.

For the duration of his service in the Ottoman lands, Busbecq constantly wrote letters to a friend in the Netherlands. These were later on published many times, most recently by Forster and Daniel in 1881 as the Turkish Letters. Widely accepted as one of the world’s first travel literatures, Busbecq describes public life and his adventures in the Ottoman land in the letters in some detail. One of the letters is of particular interest as it sheds light on certain historical aspects related to the Janissaries, the well-trained Ottoman guards.

The word “Janissary” had negative connotations in the West during the Middle Ages. The Ottoman Muslim conquests in Eastern Europe certainly contributed to this. However, Busbecq, after a prolonged visit to the Ottoman sultan, had the chance to evaluate the Janissaries and he developed some sympathy with them. In his letter he describes these guards as being of good character and spiritually elevated. In fact, Busbecq starts this letter with a description of these highly-educated Janissaries, how they function and their duties in the Ottoman lands, as well as their equitable and unbiased treatment of the public, poor or rich, Muslim or non-Muslim:

“At Buda I made my first acquaintance with the Janissaries; this is the name by which the Turks call the infantry of the royal guard… Janissaries are scattered through every part of the state, either to garrison the forts against the enemy or to protect the Christians and Jews from the violence of the mob. There is no district with any considerable amount of population, no borough or city, which has not a detachment of Janissaries to protect the Christians, Jews, and other helpless people from outrage and wrong.”

Busbecq goes on to comment about the gentle and polite disposition of Janissaries. In fact, he seems to be quite impressed by the simplicity and modesty of these guards, praising them highly, as can be seen in his next letter:

“These Janissaries generally came to me in pairs. When they were admitted to my dining room they first bowed, and then came quickly up to me, all but running, and touched my dress or hand, as if they intended to kiss it… After reaching the door, they would stand respectfully with their arms crossed, and their eyes bowed to the ground, looking more like monks than warriors… To tell you the truth, if I had not been told beforehand that they were Janissaries, I should, without hesitation, have taken them for members of some order of Turkish monks, or brethren of some Moslem college. Yet these are the famous Janissaries, whose approach inspires terror everywhere.”

According to Busbecq, these soldiers were ready to act even under extremely harsh conditions, accepting with resignation all that happened due to their faith. The Janissaries were certainly trained to obey their commander under the most severe of circumstances. In addition, Busbecq admired the Janissaries, who would never complain about difficulties:

“On such occasions (war or campaign) they take out a few spoonfuls of flour and put them into water, adding some butter, and seasoning the mess with salt and spices; these ingredients are boiled, and a large bowl of gruel is thus obtained. Of this they eat once or twice a day, according to the quantity they have, without any bread, unless they have brought some biscuit with them…”

Busbecq then goes on to compare the attitudes of these soldiers with their Western counterparts and admits the supremacy of the former with stunning self-assessment and criticism:

“From this you will see that it is the patience, self-denial and thrift of the Turkish soldier that enable him to face the most trying circumstances and come safely out of the dangers that surround him. What a contrast to our men! … On their side is the vast wealth of their empire, unimpaired resources, experience and practice in arms, a veteran soldiery, an uninterrupted series of victories, readiness to endure hardships, union, order, discipline, thrift and watchfulness. On ours are found an empty exchequer, luxurious habits, exhausted resources, broken spirits, a raw and insubordinate soldiery, and greedy quarrels; there is no regard for discipline, license runs riot, the men indulge in drunkenness and debauchery, and worst of all, the enemy are accustomed to victory, we to defeat. Can we doubt what the result must be?”

Thus, Busbecq sets out several universal virtues and ethical and moral principles as belonging to the Janissaries. Selflessness, humility, simplicity, integrity, and honor are among the virtues that Busbecq attributes to the Janissaries. He believes the way that individuals are ranked and merited for a job or promotion in the Ottomans is certainly of importance and may help us at least to partially explain the lofty character of the Janissaries. According to Busbecq, the merits for an important position in public service and authority should be based on character and ability, rather than privileges of birth, prosperity or social status:

“No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the deference to be paid to a man is measured by the position he holds in the public service. There is no fighting for precedence; a man’s place is marked out by the duties he discharges. In making his appointments the Sultan pays no regard to any pretensions on the score of wealth or rank, nor does he take into consideration recommendations or popularity, he considers each case on its own merits, and examines carefully into the character, ability, and disposition of the man whose promotion is in question. It is by merit that men rise in the service, a system which ensures that posts should only be assigned to the competent…”

These remarks are astounding, even to us today. Being awarded with a position is based on qualifications and past accomplishments rather than social status and rank. This normative statement certainly has political and social implications. Busbecq continues in his claim even further:

“Those who receive the highest offices from the Sultan are for the most part the sons of shepherds or herdsmen, and so far from being ashamed of their parentage, they actually glory in it, and consider it a matter of boasting that they owe nothing to the accident of birth; for they do not believe that high qualities are either natural or hereditary, nor do they think that they can be handed down from father to son, but that they are partly the gift of God, and partly the result of good training, great industry, and unwearied zeal; arguing that high qualities do not descend from a father to his son or heir, any more than a talent for music, mathematics, or the like; and that the mind does not derive its origin from the father, so that the son should necessarily be like the father in character, or emanates from heaven, and is thence infused into the human body. Among the Turks, therefore, honors, high posts, and judgeships are the rewards of great ability and good service. If a man be dishonest, or lazy, or careless, he remains at the bottom of the ladder, an object of contempt; for such qualities there are no honors in Turkey!”

Nobody is held responsible for the misfortunes or sins of their parents. Everybody is accountable for his or her own deeds. The lofty character of a mother and father does not pass to the children at birth. It is how a child is raised and educated that really matters in society. People who are elevated intellectually or spiritually are those who benefit themselves and society. Without a doubt these universal messages that Busbecq proclaims with honesty are ones that we wholeheartedly support.

In addition to being an indispensable source of information about Ottoman life more than four centuries ago, these letters also provide valuable lessons for policymakers. They remind us that the foundations of great civilizations and military power were lofty values and virtues. Power, when in the hands of the righteous, becomes an instrument for stability and balance. On the contrary, when in the hands of a tyrant, power causes chaos and anarchy in the world. Morality, integrity, equity and fairness, as well as merit, are some of the principles that may guide nations towards progress and prosperity. In a sense, a nation will rise when more of its members become selfless and are able to put the interests of “others” before “their own.” Societies that are made up of people who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the better good of others will indeed inherit a better world for their children. They will also be remembered forever. Those who put their own hedonistic ambitions before all else are doomed to be forgotten. Nobody will remember their lavish and inconsiderate lives or existence. The former U.S. president, J. F. Kennedy once said “Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.” It may be most appropriate for us to conclude as follows: “Ask not how others can help you, but ask how you can help others.”

Osman Nal is an associate professor in finance, Texas Southern University.

Notes

1. Several uprisings by local populations in different parts of the Ottoman State occurred. But their number was very limited. In the case of the Balkans, for at least 200 years, and in the Middle East for at least 400 years, social life was very calm and stable.
2. A useful book on the Ottomans is Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross and Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire by Jason Goodwin.

References

1. C. T. Forster and F. H. B. Daniel, eds. The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Vol. I, London: Kegan Paul, 1881.
2. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1555busbecq.html

(continued from the previous issue)

Using the distinct groves and folds on the hemispheres as a guideline, a map drawn on the cortex identifies focal points, where the various senses are concentrated, and activities in particular regions. Each of these different colored schematic centers has a specific name and performs specific functions. For example, the region above the neck at the back of the head (occipital lobe) is the field of sight; the sections that coincide with the temporal region is the field of hearing; immediately in front of this, on the left, is (generally) the field of speech; in the forehead region (frontal lobe), on the anterior wall of the middle canal is the initial center of planning of movement; on the top section of the front region is the field of complex movement; immediately behind here, in the middle-side region, is the field of simple movement; the area behind this, next to the hearing field and extending upwards, is defined as the touch receptive field. However, these areas are not confined, but rather spread out, and have a very complex connection network. The duty of the adjoining areas of these regions is to display and decipher the meaning of the signals received from the nerves. As the received signals regenerate past experiences and memories, the object or event sending the signal is recognized. To perform voluntary complex movements, the plan of movement must initially be defined in the mind and then the combination of this plan is conveyed through my nerve fibers to the movement regions. As complicated activities in humans, such as talking, and activities that involve the sensory integration mechanisms are miracles in themselves, it is quite astonishing that certain people claim that humans evolved from apes, later learning how to speak. The spinal cord (medulla spinalis) that extends from the skull in the form of a long cord, is the central nervous system sending signals to the body regions under the neck. The grey matter of the brain is located on the surface, while the white matter lies beneath the cortex; however with the spine, the butterfly shaped grey matter is inside, and the white matter on the surface covers the grey matter. In this central nervous system, all of the sensual messages that are received from the entire peripheral system, in particular from your skin and muscle, are immediately connected with the synapses or connections of the movement cells, and thus a spinal reflex is produced. As a section of the connecting cells (synapses) responds with a reflex, the other section transmits the signal to me to determine the appropriate voluntary response. For instance, if you tread on a nail, as the nail goes into the foot, a signal is transmitted by the sensor fibers to the spine, and to avoid a loss of time, the spine immediately signals the movement nerves before me, and a command is transmitted to your muscle you to raise your foot. And after your foot is saved by instant reflex, you begin to perform the other conscious activities, for example; you avoid putting weight on the foot, and bandage the wound if it is bleeding.

31 pairs of nerves (right and left) emerge from the spinal cord; 12 pairs from the brain area lay beneath the skull. These are all nerves that emerge from the central nervous system, and are distributed to various organs of the peripheral nervous system. All of the head nerves that emerge from the skull, with the exception of the tenth nerve, called the vagus nerve, control activities related to movement and senses in the head and neck region. Each of the 31 nerves exit from a space in the side of the vertebrae, and each of these nerves has two roots, an afferent nerve (sensual nerve), and an efferent nerve (movement nerve). These roots join immediately outside the spinal cord, and form the cords that carry the sensual and movement nerve fibers. These nerve cords are distributed in a plan and system that is specific for each organ. For example, the receptor sensor cells that sense a needle pricking your finger transmits this signal to the spinal cord through the receptor cell of the arm. The responsive reflex of pulling the hand away, a reflex from the spinal cord, is sent to the arm and hand muscles, and you pull your hand away. This is an example of a simple reflex. The movement nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system are divided into two, the somatic nervous system, which is distributed to the skeletal muscles, and the autonomic nervous system, which is distributed to the inner organs. Whilst the majority of the activities of the somatic systems occur voluntarily at the conscious level, the activity of autonomic systems is mainly involuntarily, or below the level of consciousness. The autonomic nervous system controls the smooth muscles of the heart, glands, blood vessels, respiration, digestion, urination and reproduction systems without our even realizing it. Dear Peter! Could you manage to do all this if you were in control? Your self control can only intervene until you place food in your mouth. Then the digestive secretions, the stomach and bowel activity, and the excretion of waste are all conducted automatically, totally beyond your control. Your breathing continues while you sleep, your kidneys never cease to function, your heart never rests, and your liver never relaxes while you sleep; your pancreas continues to produce insulin. All of your internal organs and blood vessels continue to function with the smooth muscles whenever necessary. And all this activity is conducted without you even being aware of it. If you tried to do all this, you would become exhausted within five minutes, lose interest and become unable to cope.

The nerve cords of the autonomic nervous system are divided into two, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. These two systems have been created in such a way that they respond in opposition to one another, and every organ is provided with a stem from both. Therefore, no organ of the body is left uncontrolled. Whilst one signals and encourages the organ to function quicker and generate more outcomes, the other acts to the contrary, sending signals that encourage the organ to slow down. In which case, with these two contrasting signals, the organ protects its optimal functioning tempo according to the situation and conditions. The sympathetic system generally responds in cases of stress and shock, preparing the body for the effects of such situations. For example, an increase in your blood pressure, blood-sugar level, and perspiration, the dilation of your pupils, and an increase in the flow of blood in your muscles all occur from the effect of the sympathetic fibers. The parasympathetic system sends adverse signals, such as reducing blood pressure and so on, so that the organs return to their neutral state and continue their normal functions.

From the very beginning I have described many of my sections and signals, but I have not yet told you about my key to life, my nerve cells, and how my nerve cells function. 30 billion cells, known as neurons, are the actual units that function in every part of my system. A neuron has a cell body and emerging filaments like tree branches. The single thicker filament like the tree trunk is called the axon, and the thinner filaments that emerge in larger quantities like tree branches are called dentrites. The nerve signals advance from the axon to the dentrite in the form of an electrical pulse. In the space between the connection point (synapses) of a nerve cell axon and the other cells, the dentrite, a chemical substance, called the neurotransmitter, is released. When these substances, in the form of neuropeptides, amino acids, acetylcholines, and monomines, reach the wall of the opposite cells, it an electrical pulse is immediately ignited in the dendrite. Just like a row dominos, falling down one after the other, or football fans performing the Mexican wave, a wave-like effect is generated and these electrical messages are fired with great speed from one end of the cell to the other, advancing in the form of tiny electrical pulses to be transmitted to neighboring cells. While a cell at rest has a potential of 70m V, the action potential of up to +30 – +40m V can transmit all types of information. Every cell can transmit up to 1,000 signals per second.

While you still do not recognize the true value of what you call the memory, which records hundreds of experiences every day, various theories are presented regarding how this bank which stores information in your brain actually functions. But we all know that the answer to this question lies within the millions of neurons that constitute me. Just as all of the senses, thoughts and actions occur from electrical and chemical signals that are transmitted from one cell to another they are presumably recorded in the same way, that is, with electrical and chemical signals.

It is difficult to define a precise center for the boundaries of the memories in me; memory could be interconnected with all of my regions. The storing of certain memories, some voices, visions, smells, or dreams, or the sense of resentment, anger or joy, is all carried out in different forms. You could not even begin to imagine the greatness of the memory storage! I have two types of memory, one short and one-long term. In my short term memory, I can store up to between seven and nine different things at any one time. Nothing remains in my short-term memory for more than a few minutes. Everything that you remember after this is stored in my long-term memory. In my long-term memory things can remain for days, months or even years. Everything you know and learn is stored in your long-term memory. By the time you are eight years old, the information in your memory is enough to fill one million pages. However, this is a mere drop in the ocean; the long-term memory is so vast that it can never become full. Even when you reach a hundred, I will have the capacity to store new information, so never assume that you are overloading a child’s mind and never deprive them of education…Some presumptuous people say; “Never force a child to memorize at a young age, it will affect the brain.” Do not believe them! The learning of foreign languages, the Qur’an and religious education is recorded in my memory by electric pulses and this is so much easier and healthier in the early stages of life. In fact, such activities at a young age can even strengthen the memory. The event called ‘recollection’ is the repeat of the electric pulse codes that are recorded at the actual time of an event. Occasionally you try to remember a person’s name, and although the name is on the tip of your tongue, you just cannot remember. You struggle and eventually give up. Then suddenly, two days later the name comes to your mind. You are quite puzzled and of course pleased that you have remembered, but have you ever wondered how this happens? As you try to remember, you control each of my nerve cells individually, because you are not sure where you placed the files that bear this information. But you are unable to find which section of the millions of cells bears the information. As you have not used this information often, or because you did not consider it to be important, you did not register it in a particular place. But you would never forget your father’s name, as it is important to you and use it often, so the file is in front of you constantly. Well, you get frustrated at not being able to remember and stop searching; however, what you call the subconscious is in fact a much more mysterious mechanism. It begins to search without you being aware of it. Then to your surprise it produces the file two days later. The subconscious is a very mysterious place, it affects everything about you. Only the most sincere feelings are recorded in the subconscious; no veil, no hypocrisy, only actual thoughts are recorded. And also events that deeply affect you, the sad or bad memories you experience, and of course sins…The subconscious is what causes the sense of guilt or an inferiority complex; this is reflected in much of your behavior. But problems like guilt or an inferiority complex are something we can change; it all depends on you. If you are a person who has self-control, you perform good, favorable deeds, and are continuously patient; thus you can eventually renew the contaminated sections of your subconscious so that it will not upset you anymore. Indeed, this is the reason why, of all the creatures on earth, only humans were blessed with the sense of remorse and faith. If you suppress feelings of guilt and sin in the subconscious, the autonomic system affects the organs without you even realizing it; the thalamus, hypothalamus, or the pituitary gland (hypophsis), which are small in size, but bear a great responsibility; eventually this disturbs the balance of the whole body and you become ill. Although this may not be an organic complaint at first, due to psychosomatic symptoms which are caused by suppressing your subconscious, over time this will affect the functions of one of your organs and you become ill. Of course the exact opposite is also possible, with inspiration, pleasant thoughts and good actions the positive signals transmitted to the affected organ may possibly be the means to recovery.

Dear Peter! I have so many more facts and mysterious functions to describe to you, but unfortunately the pages here are not enough. Well, I suppose I must stop somewhere. I really wanted to talk to you about a number of different things, like dreams, mental illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, strokes, sleep, hypnosis, and the damage caused by drugs. However, each of these subjects is so vast, and many of them have already been explained in previous issues, so for now I will leave it to others to describe these subjects to you, and say my last words…

Dear Peter!… While your hand is writing and reading these words, or explaining what you have read to your friends, or learning all this information and passing it through the filter of thought, you are constantly using my nerves and my systems. There is not a single moment where I am not informed of events that occur in your body. Who knows just how much of the mysteries in me you will use in order to rise to the peak of accomplishment with the blessings that have been bestowed upon you by the Creator. Even the greatest computers made by human beings are mere toys compared to me. Nevertheless, the knowledge of engineers and craftsmen which design, plan, and place every piece into these computers with total accuracy is only possible because of me. Presumably you are not denying those who designed, constructed, and made the computer operate, are you? In which case you should thank God, the One who created me, an organ whose capacity exceeds that of thousands of computers, with His eternal power and wisdom; always remember to use me in good, blessed, and honest actions!…May God protect you!…

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir. 

No, not all of us.

Jill Carroll presents us with a legendary example of hope from our recent past, showing us that there can always be a solution, even at the cold touch of the barrel of a weapon, or with the blood-chilling knowledge that your town has been targeted. In this issue, she shares with us a truly interesting story she was told last summer in Fuzine, a village in Croatia’s Gorski Kotar district.

Croatia, now an independent state, was one of the six republics which formed the former country of Yugoslavia, a country that was devastated after a war in the ’90s. We shiver when we remember the massacres of Bosnian civilians before the eyes of the entire world, under the so-called protection of UN forces, when some had proclaimed that we had reached the zenith of human civilization. The massacre of Srebrenica, the fifteenth anniversary of which was marked last July, has no doubt left indelible stain not only in the lives of its victims-at least, those who survived-but also in the conscience of all of us who could do nothing more than pray. One observer who participated in the ceremony last July described Srebrenica as a town in which “the dead are more alive than the living, the living more dead than the dead; the dead visiting homes at night, the living visiting the dead during the day.” The story Jill reports from Gorski Kotar, Croatia features civil leaders and media members who heroically acted “faster than the dead” and perhaps saved their towns from being another Srebrenica – despite the consequences they faced in the years that followed.

The lead article describes another story of heroism, which is displayed at a global level. Gulen praises those educational activists who have gone all around the world and built schools and dialogue centers in hundreds of countries. The people Gulen describes are filled with love for humanity regardless of race, color, religion, and language, and they are convinced that universal peace can only be realized by overcoming ignorance. Gulen calls this volunteer movement “A Movement Originating Its Own Models,” perhaps because they are so precious to Gulen that he cannot compare them with any other social movement in the world, and perhaps because these volunteers truly come forward with an authentic approach for engaging our modern world and times.

First of all, we should discuss the ideas and opinions of the former scholars about the meaning of wisdom (hikma) referred to in this verse.

Some scholars defined wisdom as “non-recited revelation” and the Prophet’s statements, peace and blessings be upon him. The following verses in the Qur’an distinguish clearly the Book (the Quran) from wisdom: “God has sent down on you the Book and the Wisdom, and taught you what you did not know” (Nisa 4:113), and “I taught you [Jesus] of the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel” (Maidah 5:110).

With inspiration based on this Quranic distinction, the majority of the traditional scholars (muhaddith) indicated that the Book, referred to in this verse, means the Holy Quran while the wisdom points to the luminous remarks, wise words, marvelous thought, and virtuous statements of the Prophet.

Some said more specifically, “Wisdom is cognizance of the secrets of the universe so that a person who reads it like a book grasps the right thing to do, the wisdom, the benefit, the harmony, and the relation between cause and effect.” The pleasure of a person successful in reading such a book will increase the more he reads, and as the pleasure increases, he will read even more, and in this way he will become aware of wisdom. In this context, wisdom can be regarded as the study of the universe (macro-cosmos) and the human being (normo-cosmos), which is generally discussed by philosophers and theologians.

Another meaning of wisdom is the comprehension of Islam’s proper course and purpose, which include the effects of belief in the Judgment Day, how prescribed prayer functions in regulating our material and spiritual life, the role of fasting in purifying our carnal self, the place of prescribed purifying alms in being the vault of the social balance and order, the function and duty of pilgrimage in bringing Muslims worldwide together, and the like.

The phrase in the verse, “Whoever is granted the Wisdom has indeed been granted much good,” (Baqarah 2:269) means that whoever can comprehend wisdom is blessed with the favors of Almighty God, which is one of the points we understand from the verse.

Some scholars maintained that wisdom can be defined as “grasping the secrets of the Divine Names,” which is another major aspect. Indeed, whoever sees manifestations of the divine names wherever he or she looks has comprehended wisdom. A friend of God who looked at the names and saw their manifestation expressed his thoughts and feelings like this: “A sage cannot see anything but the Names; a dervish of the saint Jilani will grasp the secret.”

In other words, anyone looking at the manifestations of the Divine Names will desire to see the Holy Being Who is denoted by those Names or to witness God. Such a person will fall on his/her knees and prostrate in the face of every event or incident in the universe, and when s/he places his/her head on the ground and closes his/her eyes and is lost in inner feelings, s/he will attain a vastness as if s/he had placed his/her head on the pillars of the Divine Throne –though He is exempt and free from all sorts of quality or quantity. S/he will start to regard every sound as a chant coming from God and every color as an atlas consisting of variations of God’s Name. This must be another dimension of wisdom.

In another sense, wisdom is attainment of diverse feelings and perceptions in the treasure of the Divine Names, Attributes, and Functions during one’s never-ending voyage, and such a person has understood the truth of things and is in the grip of full wonder and curiosity about the Divine Essence. Occasionally, Divine Attributes are manifested. Yet, like the Divine Essence, His Attributes are unknown to us-though something may be said about their essence. Saying it another way, they are present, but are unknown. A person who has been elevated to this station is in a state of saying, “I have comprehended or I have sensed or I have fully understood,” and he is in the conjecture and imagination of always running, making significant progress, rushing and conceiving new things, but most of the time, s/he is bewildered. As we noted above, this station of the spiritual journey and progress is called “station of amazement.”

Those taking this journey become bewildered when they reach this station; their vision becomes blurry and changes, they do not see you when they look at you, their glance is dimensional, and they always see different things. They see a different face in your face and different eyes in your eyes. When you speak, they hear someone else speaking, and they can also feel it in their conscience. This station is the station of amazement and wonder. People in this station are not easily fooled; if they are fooled, it is rare because they always have the zeal to run towards God and to reach Him.

Considering the aforementioned, we can say that whoever is granted wisdom is blessed with many benefits. God grants wisdom to whomever He wishes. Still, there are some prerequisites for being entitled to receive wisdom. These include the capability for receiving it, the aptitude for discovering the universe, a heart that is able to feel and sense the manifestations of the Divine Names, and improved subtle faculties. All of these will be granted by God, Who will then give wisdom to this predisposed nature in the above-mentioned fashion. A person who reaches this horizon has been given copious good.

How can it be otherwise? Such people understand the meaning of the universe. They see that everything manifested in the universe is a manifestation of God’s Names. They walk to the horizon of the attributes and become obsessed with fully knowing, understanding, and perceiving the Exalted Essence. Even if they are told, “The doors are locked; don’t tire yourself in vain,” they wait with wonder for the moment the door will open.

For this reason, people who are in this station have a longing for reunion with God, thus they anxiously wait for their time in this world to come to end. Prophet Joseph said in expressing such a wish from a person in this station, “My Lord! You have indeed granted me some important part of the rule and imparted to me some knowledge of the inner meaning of all happenings. O You, Originator of the heavens and the earth with particular features! You are my Owner and Guardian in this world and in the Hereafter. Take my soul to You a believer, and join me with the righteous” (Yusuf 12:101). Despite all his material achievements and fame, Prophet Joseph desired union with the True Beloved.

Finally, wisdom can also be defined as the understanding of the web of relations among human beings, the universe, and the Quran. The universe is a book compiled by God with His Power and Will. The human being is a concise summary and index of this book. And the Quran is a book that tells the meaning of the universe and the human in divine wording. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is the man who understands this in the best way. He is, therefore, the greatest prefect man (al-insan al-kamil). Whoever conceives this truth is the one to whom wisdom is granted. Those who consider the universe, the human, and the Quran separately from each other are deprived of wisdom and its joy.

May God instill relief in our hearts and help us understand this Noble Truth.

Notes

1. “Non-recited revelation” (wahy gayr matluw) is not the Quranic scripture which is “recited” revelation. The Prophet’s practice and words, which explain the Quran to the believers, are believed to be revealed to his heart; nevertheless, they are different than the Quranic revelation.

No matter how expressive and stylishly it is told, what matters is that this important phenomenon of the era should be related. It should, after all, be related so that we add a footnote to history and show our respect for those devoted people who performed such heroic deeds. If, on the other hand, this soft breeze, this warm atmosphere, this fresh thought and this love, and the gentle winds felt across the globe were to be described very briefly, it would be disrespectful toward the noble traits, such as magnanimity and altruism.

This movement is a phenomenon to be written about and underscored. A few dozen passionate people set off in all directions for the sake of God without stopping to think about their longings or their feelings of separation and without uttering the words “foreign lands” or “unknown places” at a time when nobody could even fathom what lay ahead. They were full of determination, firm of intention, and self-reliant. They suppressed their love for their country and their homeland, replacing it with a love for mission. They were aware of their efforts for the cause of God as few have been, they lived as such, and they walked to the east and to the west saying:

We have entered the path of love,
We are lovesick.
(Nigari)

At the most colorful period of their lives, when worldly pleasures and material objectives attract young people with an irresistible lure, and when physicality oppresses the hearts and minds of a person, they virtually flew to all these places with a passion for accomplishment that suppressed the various desires and compulsions; the excitement of those in the first row was in their hearts. This flight abroad was not like the departure of lovelorn youths who chased a false siren that had entered their lives at an unlucky time, those youths who pursued their dreams for a lifetime, who became lovesick, and who were strangers to their own nature, yet unable to reach the desired goal. The mission of these youths was from the heart and based on emotions, on consciousness, and determination; it had a depth of good faith and sincerity. You could say that these were the usual dynamics of faith, the natural conditions of divine ambition, the ideals of the devoted, the guides of the Infinite Light, or the efforts of those who had abandoned their selves and their beloved ones in order to express themselves. Indeed, they were neither prevented by their own shortcomings nor did they surrender to the obstacles in their way; they walked to the far corners of the world, the only never-fading love in their hearts being God’s favor and the ambition to meet Him. They walked; the roads took pride in this, the angels cheered them on, and, naturally, the devils beat their breasts. They walked; they had neither horses nor cars, nor weapons, nor ammunition. Their source of energy was their incredible faith and the excitement in their hearts that seethed like magma; on the horizon was the happiness of humanity, consent, and pleasure. Their destiny equaled that of the Companions and the Apostles. Soon after dawn they attained, with their chastity and purity, a manner that was tantamount to kinship with the angels. They became a theme for legends and a thing of never fading memory. They brought streams of light from eternity wherever they went. They lit a fire all around; the flame, ember, and smoke of this fire was happiness. The spell of tyranny and darkness gave way. The disbelieving bats were deprived of their sleep, and darkness unceasingly grumbled. Lies, calumny, and intrigue were hindered once again. All this made boorish thoughts and bigotry intolerably arrogant, making it want to tread on others’ ideas and set up traps for faith. However, all opposition was in vain: the light shone everywhere. The light that radiated from eternity embraced the entire world. Now it was the time and the epoch of the bright souls, although the murky situation still prevailed and the horizons were foggy, but the magic of darkness and the boorish thoughts were already undone.

Now it was the turn of the bright souls to speak. Humanity would discover itself through them and take its true place in the hierarchy of creation. Therefore, it was a generation that had long been awaited. As people had been waiting for them, wherever they went they always bent double as a consequence of their reverence for God and their respect for humanity, their eyes fixed on the doorway of the Most Gracious, meekly and humbly, awaiting the time when showers of light would be unleashed, while their heads and feet touched the ground. No matter how the people of today assess the issue, these were the children of tomorrow; the bright future bore their secrets. These lucky people, who were the apostles of resurrection, each in their own way, held the flowers of friendship in their hands and the verses of brother and sisterhood on their lips. Their tongues, sharper than sharpest swords, were nourished by Qur’anic waterfalls and their words had divine dimensions. These words destroyed darkness, but did not harm anyone. They brought the sound of the rivers of Paradise within earshot, but they did not lead to a longing for Paradise. In fact, these people needed neither hands nor tongues. Their pure faces that reminded one of God wherever seen were so magical that words stumbled in the presence of the meanings that emanated from their manners, and tongues became mute. Even their shadows burned the night moths; not to mention their light, which dazzled anyone that came near. We rightfully say, “Tongues and words have nothing to say in the presence of actions. When manners speak, is there a need for speech?” They are the representatives of this truth. There have always been multitudes of good people on the Earth; however, the manners and words of this latest group are entirely different. I can hardly say that they were singular or unique, but were I asked to explain how they were, I would not be able to immediately reply. I would probably say, “They look like angels,” and give up there.

Wherever these bright souls go, dry deserts turned into gardens of Eden thanks to the light they radiated. Much coal has been transformed into diamonds. Natures made of mud and stone have ascended to the rank of gold and silver. And everybody is talking about them now, waiting for the days when the love, brotherhood, and tolerance they promised will be realized. Today, only those who confuse darkness and light and who spend their lives in the realm of physicality are speaking against them. The bats are uneasy. The wolves and jackals are baring their teeth. The fools are restless. I find all these natural, and say, “Everybody exhibits his or her true nature.”

Whatever happens, despite those who blow out the candles, these men and women have long illuminated the hearts that are thirsty for light wherever they go, they warn the pure natures of what lies behind things and events, and they announce the universal human values to unspoiled souls.

I firmly believe that, just as intercontinental obstacles were once overcome thanks to the Qur’an, and love, respect, and dialogue were permanently established, a new ground for reconciliation has been or will be founded by the efforts of these lucky people today. Humanity used to recognize our nation, with its smiling face and fortunate destiny. Why should this very fact not also be true today? A flood of love among the people has started overflowing in almost every place that these bearers of the mission visit. There have been breezes of happiness and gladness, one after another, that can be felt all around. Moreover, islands of peace, which we can call invulnerable castles of harmony and stability, are forming near and far.

Who knows, maybe in the near future, thanks to these volunteers who devote themselves to letting others live, the mind and soul will embrace each other once again; conscience and logic will become complementary depths of each other; physics and metaphysics will stop fighting and withdraw to their own realms, and everything will find the opportunity to express the beauty in its own nature through its own language, the intricacy of legislative rules and the principles of creation will be rediscovered, people will regret having fought each other over nothing, an atmosphere of peace that was not previously established in the marketplaces, in the schools and homes will be established, and breezes of happiness will blow, chastity will not be violated, honesty will not be oppressed, hearts will always breathe respect and esteem, no one will envy others, their property or their reputation, the powerful will treat the weak justly, the weak and the poor will have the chance to live humanely, nobody will be arrested on the strength of mere suspicions, no dwelling or workplace will be raided, nobody’s blood will be shed and the weak will not cry, everybody will adore God and love humanity. It is only then that this world, which is the hallway to Paradise, will become an Eden that is fascinating to live in.

Notes

1. The author has dedicated this article to countless educational activists who have gone all around the world, with a motivation to provide quality education and to promote peace between different nations and cultures. All throughout his life and career Gulen has preached the importance of education and directed his audience to participate in and support educational activities.
2. Seyyid Nigari: A famous poet of Azerbaijan. He was an important representative of nineteenth century mystical poetry.

Original Article: Mak, G.K. & Weiss, S., Nature Neuroscience 13, 753 (2010).

Motherhood or maternal recognition is well characterized by associated brain plasticity during both early development and adulthood. Unlike motherhood, paternal-offspring recognition and its related brain plasticity is poorly understood. A group from University of Calgary designed a set of experiments to test whether father mice can recognize their own infants once they’ve reached adulthood. They exposed adult males to their own and genetically unrelated infants for 2 days. The fathers were tested for adult offspring recognition six weeks later. Assay compared the time spent by the fathers with their own and unrelated offsprings. Results showed that although the father mice show similar parenting behavior toward both sets of infants (own and adopted), they only recognize their own pups as adults. Paternal recognition is associated with increased prolactin (a hormone primarily associated to lactation), mediated neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb, and hippocampus, a major component of mammalian brain. These newly generated neurons are important for the formation of socially relevant olfactory memories. Authors also found that the fathers must physically interact with the infants in order to recognize them later. This is confirmed by some control experiments in which fathers are only allowed to see, smell or hear infants through a wire mesh barrier which was not sufficient to induce neurogenesis. One of the socially relevant benefits of paternal recognition of the infants as adults is to avoid incest interactions which cause inbreeding depression.

2- Recently revealed hideous effects of smoking on children

Original Articles: Brion, M.J. et al., Pediatrics 126, e57 (2010) & Kwok, M.K. et al., Pediatrics 126, e46 (2010).

Smoking is bad for our health, but apparently it may also have subtle, yet far-reaching consequences on our children according to two recent studies. The first study reports that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have children with psychological problems. A related study presents evidence that babies who develop in the presence of second-hand smoke (from their fathers) may develop weight problems. Dr. Mary-Jo Brion of the University of Bristol tells “Babies exposed to smoke (in the womb) may be prone to rule breaking, such as lying, cheating, bullying, and disobedience in later years” and adds “To some extent it is somewhat surprising that … maternal smoking may also directly impact child behaviors from exposing the fetus to tobacco in utero.” The other study suggests that smoking around expecting mothers (even when the mother herself is not smoking) also affects the child: higher childhood weight appears to be clearly correlated with paternal smoking. “To protect their children, fathers should avoid smoking from conception onward,” says Dr. Mary Schooling of the University of Hong Kong. Furthermore, smoking mothers should not be too surprised to see their children “disobey” when they tell them not to smoke.

3- Exposure to certain wavelengths of light resets the body clock

Original Article: Gooley, J.J. et al., Science Translational Medicine 2, 31ra33 (2010).

With the introduction of high-tech gadgets into our lives, our daily functions have changed drastically. As opposed to old-fashioned bed-time reading of an “actual” book made of paper, we fiddle with our iphones or ipads or notebooks or channel surf on our bedside TVs before going to sleep. A recent study revealed that exposure to certain wavelengths of light, such as those from laptops or TVs, would negatively influence our circadian rhythms (daily rhythmic activity cycle) by resetting our body clocks (e.g., keeping us awake when we should be sleeping). The feeling of sleepiness at night time is triggered by the secretion of a hormone called melatonin. It had been known that exposure of blue light to the eye’s photoreceptor system located in the ganglion cells suppresses the melatonin secretion, therefore stimulating alertness. In their recent work, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital showed that green light exposure of a different cell population on the eyes – cone cells – also resets the body clock by suppressing melatonin secretion. The senior author of the paper, Dr. Steven Lockley, said in an interview that “we need to think about the entire spectrum of light when designing light therapy or lightning designs to boost alertness or induce sleepiness.” The moral of the story is to be more vigilant about our interaction with fancy electronic gadgets at night if we want to have a healthy and relaxing sleep.

4- Poor teachers may impede good students

Original Articles: Taylor, J. et al., Science 328, 512 (2010).

Scholars know that educational environment, including both tasks and the social environment of a classroom, affects children’s achievement just as much as genetic factors. But the teacher plays a main role, because the quality of the educational environment depends on teachers’ performances. A new study underlined the importance of qualified teachers and how they can make a difference in education. The researchers examined the influence of teacher quality by studying 280 identical and 526 fraternal twin pairs in the first and second grades in different Florida schools representing a diverse environment. Identical twins share 100 percent of their genes and fraternal twins share half, and some of the twins were taught by the same teacher but some were in different classes. The researchers used an Oral Reading Fluency test which is based on how many words in a paragraph a child can accurately read in a minute in order to assess the reading skills of children. The researchers recorded the reading scores of students in the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester, and they followed the students’ improvements during the year. To measure teacher quality, they used the scores of twins’ classmates. By studying twins’ groups, researchers were able to eliminate some other factors such as genetics and socio-economic conditions. According to the findings, the teachers played a role in “moderating” students’ achievements, and they helped the students to grow to their full potential. When teacher quality is very low, genetic variance is constricted, whereas, when teacher quality is very high, genetic variance blooms. As the study’s lead author, Jeanette Taylor, said “Better teachers provide an environment that allows children to reach their potential.”