Virtue, succinctly, is being distinguished with the most exalted ethical and moral values, and beholding the whole of existence with love. A truly virtuous person has a kind of connection with all things. In the sight of such an individual the flow of events passes like breezes of spring. Life itself relieves the soul and brings it a feeling of bliss, filling the heart with joys. They are enraptured in the constant flood of things and events, savoring fresh scenes in them. Neither the rising and setting of the sun, nor the continuous cycle of night and day can spoil their delight or fill their heart with gloom. They keep living moments of serenity and happiness, viewing different and ever-renewed sights with wisdom.

On the one hand, being virtuous does not mean an extreme rejection of all human desires and leading a life of extreme austerity by turning our back against the material world. Such an understanding, which detaches people from the world they live in, is a cause of pessimism and a source of hopelessness. And this, as Ibsen puts it, means destroying happiness. At the same time, such extreme and groundless worries imply that the individual only thinks about one’s self. Such a person shows signs of being preoccupied with self-concern, and can be deprived of the feeling of benevolence. This kind of thought implies a wrong understanding of ethical standards, and is devoid of the merit of altruism.

On the other hand, it is not correct to claim that virtue is a guarantor of all material and spiritual felicities. A virtuous person can be ill, poor, or in a wretched condition. Such a person may suffer the oppression, insults, and betrayals of other people, and may even undergo torture, convictions, and exiles. Jesus was betrayed, Socrates was convicted, and Epictetus was oppressed-but they all remained happy in a deep sense. In this respect, we believe that happiness resides in the heart, in the form of the breezes of an inner paradise, reinforced by the practice of virtue that cannot be shaken. As faith contains the seed of a spiritual paradise, unbelief likewise bears the stone of a spiritual hell.

Virtue is when people realize their own limitedness, and let go of their pettiness in the infinity of the universe. Virtue means not valuing their person more than they should. We lose felicity when we experience the distress of insatiable and worthless ambition. Then we are beset by little miseries such as material disappointments, or wounds to dignity and pride. A virtuous person is one with sound thinking. Such people “do not wait passively when there is a solution, and do not start wailing at what there is no solution for.” On the contrary, they do their best and seek ways against the avoidable and on behalf of the possible. In the face of events beyond their power they submit to the divine will.

People of virtue do not violate their happiness with such things as self-oriented thoughts, greed for fortune, and love of worldly status, which are sought after by many others. Since sound thinking people are ready to welcome insurmountable troubles and inevitable misfortunes from the beginning, their felicity and happiness is never spoiled. In terms of their consciousness and feelings, such individuals can always have their share of pure and lofty joys or delights. They can always take pleasure in loving others, in familial compassion, in brotherhood, sisterhood, and friendship. Such people will not commit oppression, will not be traitors and will always keep away from thoughts based on revenge, grudges, hatred, and envy. Therefore, they can always feel a breeze composed of respect and love blowing around them and will always be happy. With the connectedness they feel for their family, country, nation, and all of creation they swim in a coastless sea of love. They actually feel infinite delights and feel the pleasures of Paradise before they enter there.

These pleasures stem from beauties like sharing others’ joys, feeling others’ delights in their own soul, and even facing grief and suffering in order to pave the way for greater happiness. Being virtuous means establishing a contact with the past and future just like the present time. Being virtuous means being spiritually connected to the most distinguished personalities of the past and future; feeling their approval and appreciation deep in one’s heart. Being virtuous means sharing the same life with the most distinguished persons in human history, uniting and merging with our ancestors and with all future generations. Thus, through living in such a close connection with the entire humanity and universe, the heart attains eternal happiness while in this world and reaches a dimension where external occurrences cannot violate its happiness.

We have learned this deep relation of virtue with true happiness from the most honorable figures of humanity. This is the very felicity which makes hearts find contentment, and which sets minds at rest. This felicity is based on the soundest pillars of virtue such as having no arrogance, being mature and tolerant, overlooking faults, and holding no grudges or hatred. To put it directly: this felicity is in the heart and spirit. It is so deep-rooted as never to be replaced by anything else. It is related to the essence of humanity. Materialistic pleasures in the superficial, selfish, ambitious sense can add nothing to this type of felicity, nor can they substitute for it. How fortunate are those who exalt their souls with belief and refine their hearts with virtue!

Until today, almost all of your organs and systems introduced themselves and explained the great artistry in their creation along with their wisdom and precision. Certainly, these were not just for your information. Of course, it is important for you to know about your organs and their duties, and for you to live accordingly with this knowledge. However, its main purpose has been to introduce you to your Lord, who created you and all living and nonliving things perfectly. Just like seeing a work of art and not appreciating the artist is a twisted view, so is seeing the art exhibited on the body of the world’s most dignified entity, the human being, and not appreciating our Lord. It would just be a worthless and pointless heap of knowledge.

Today, we will look at the human body statistically, have our last lesson, and say goodbye.

Before we talk about the systems and organs that make up your body, you should know that it is a blessing that God didn’t leave you in nonexistence, and put you into existence. Then, you should know that it is also a blessing that He didn’t leave you as inorganic molecules, but created you as a living organism. For you to understand better, I would like you to look carefully at the delicate measures of the numbers I will give you in the tables below and to realize how high your value has been lifted.

The weights and percentages of inorganic elements in a 70 kg human body:

Oxygen…….. 44 kg……. 63%
Carbon……. 14 kg……. 20%
Hydrogen……. 7 kg……. 10%
Nitrogen……. 2.1 kg……. 3%
Calcium……. 1 kg……. 1.5%
Phosphorus……. 700 g……. 1%
Potassium……. 170 g……. 0.25%
Sulfur….. 140 g……. 0,2%
Chlorine……. 70 g……. 0.1%
Sodium….. 70 g……. 0.1%
Magnesium.. 30 g……. 0.04%
Iron…… 3 g……. 0.004%
Copper…… 300 mg……. 0.0005%
Manganese….. 100 mg……. 0.0002%
Iodine……. 30 mg……. 0.00004%

The total percentage of trace elements found in the blood serum and in enzymes, such as zinc, cobalt, cadmium, molybdenum, nickel, lead, fluorine, selenium, mercury, and aluminum, is 0.80526%.

As you can see, 76% of you (53.1 kg of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen) are gases that dissolve into the air. These aren’t worth anything because there are plenty of them in the air. From 14 cents per kilogram, 14 kilograms of carbon (coal) is worth around 2 dollars. One kilogram calcium (lime) is worth around 12 cents. 140 grams of chlorine and sodium together (salt) is worth around 3 cents. All of the other elements (such as iron, copper, and magnesium) are worth a handful of soil, because they are found easily in soil, and there is only very little of them in the human body. So in total, your elements are worth $2.15.

Let’s increase your value a little bit! Our Lord didn’t leave you as elements; He turned you into organic material with very large molecules, such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins. That gives us the table below:
Organ…. Water (%) …. Fat (%)…… Protein (%)…. Ash (%)
Skin…… 64.68…… 13.00…… 22.10…… 0.68
Skeleton…… 31.81…… 17.18…… 18.93…… 28.91
Teeth…… 5.00…… 0.00…… 23.00…… 70.90
Skeletal muscle…… 79.52…… 3.35…… 16.50…… 0.93
Brain-Spinal cord…… 73.33…… 12.68…… 12.06…… 1.37
Liver…… 71.46…… 10.35…… 16.19…… 0.88
Heart…… 73.69…… 9.26…… 15.88…… 0.80
Lungs…… 83.74…… 1.54…… 13.38…… 0.95
Spleen…… 78.69…… 1.19…… 17.81…… 1.13
Kidneys…… 79.47…… 4.01…… 14.69…… 0.96
Pancreas…… 73.08…… 13.08…… 12.69…… 0.93
Intestines…… 79.07…… 6.24…… 13.19…… 0.86
Adipose tissue…… 50.09….. 42.44…… 7.06…… 0.51
Other tissues…… 70.40…… 12.39…… 16.06…… 1.01
Blood and lymph…… 93.33…… 0.17…… 5.68…… 0.94
Total…… 67.85…… 12.51…… 14.39…… 4.84

If you wonder about your value as water, protein, fat, and ash, you can calculate it according to a 70 kg person. If you do this, you can see that you are made up of 47.495 kilograms of water, 8.757 kg fat, 10.073 kg protein and 3.388 kg ash (mineral salts). Since the water in you is dirty and not clear, it isn’t worth anything. Your minerals and ash aren’t worth anything because there are plenty of them in soil. For $1.42 per kilogram, your fat is worth around $12.86. Your protein is worth around 16 kilograms of lamb, which costs around $36.57. So when you are elevated from elemental material to organic material, your value rises up to around $50.

Of course, our Lord didn’t leave you like this. He created you in the form of organs and tissues, which carry out miraculous tasks so that you can stay alive. Now, let’s see the groups of trillions of differentiated cells:

Total number of cells in the human body………… around 100 trillion
Number of cells that die in one second…………around 50 million
Number of cells created in one second…………around 50 million
Number of cell types…………more than 200
Number of red blood cells in 5 liters of blood…………25 trillion
Height reached by putting all of our red blood cells on top of each other…………around 60.000 km
Length reached by putting all of our red blood cells side by side…………192.500 km
Red blood cells’ surface area………..more than 1000 m2
Number of white blood cells (leucocytes) in our blood…………40 billion
Number of nerve cells…………30 billion
Length of a sperm…………35 micrometers
Diameter of an egg cell…………100-120 micrometers
Average length of a liver cell…………30-50 micrometers
Lifespan of small intestine mucous cells…………1.4 days
Lifespan of stomach entrance area (cardia) mucous cells…………9.1 days
Lifespan of stomach exit area (pylorus) mucous cells…………1.8 days
Lifespan of epithelial cells in lung alveoli…………8.1 days
Lifespan of large intestine (colon) mucous cells…………10 days
Lifespan of upper skin (epidermis) cells…………19.2 days
Lifespan of covering epithelial cells in the bladder…………66.5 days
Lifespan of neutrophile leucocytes…………45 days
Lifespan of eosinophile leucocytes…………10 days
Lifespan of lymphocytes…………5 days to 1 year
Lifespan of monocytes…………months
Lifespan of red blood cells…………120 days
Number of times a red blood cell travels the body during its life…………300.000
Number of red blood cells generated in a second…………2.4 million
Number of red blood cells generated in a day…………208 billion
Lifespan of a liver cell…………222 days
Lifespan of a kidney cell…………286 days
Number of mitochondria (power plant) in a nerve cell…………up to 10.000
Number of ribosomes created in a liver cell in one second…………180
Total length of the DNA in one cell…………2 m
Number of muscles in the body…………around 600
Number of muscles that work when smiling…………15
Number of muscles that work when frowning…………43
Total amount of work done by our muscles in one day
(Equal to lifting a 6 ton truck 50 meters into the air with a crane)…………around 3.106 Newtons
Total number of capillaries…………30 billion
Number of alveoli in the lungs…………400 million
Total amount of air taken in by the lungs in one day……………around 10.000 liters
Total amount of air we use in 75 years…………around 285 million liters
Total length of the nephrons in the kidney…………around 50 km
Total length of the glomerulus capillaries in the kidney…………around 25 km
Total inner surface area of the kidney channels…………20 m2
Total filtration area of the Bowman capsules in the kidney…………1 m2
Total skin weight…………11.15 kg
Total surface area of the skin…………1.5-1.8 m2
Total length of capillaries in 1 cm2 of skin…………around 1 m
Weight of dead keratin cells that fall off the skin in one day…………10 gr
Length of the nerve fibers in the skin…………80 km
Number of sweat glands…………around 2 million
Number of sebaceous glands in the skin on the head…………around 120.000
Total number of cells in the skin…………around 100 billion
Number of sensory receptors in the skin…………around 60 million
Daily sweat amount…………800 ml
Maximum daily sweat amount…………18 liters
Number of cells in the retina…………127 million
Number of values of the same color our eye can distinguish…………around 200
Number of shades of light that we can perceive…………around 500

The reason I gave all these numbers was not just to show the multitude of cells, organs, and tissues, but to emphasize that our Lord can create these with the precision that He creates a single cell. Mammals also have the organs and tissues that I have mentioned. Besides, some mammals have different organs with superior aspects. From this point of view, we are not much different from a cow or a horse. However, our Lord says that He created us in the best form possible, equipped us with superior qualities, and granted us the authority over all creation. Dear Peter! It’s time that you shed out of being an animal and rise to the degree of humanity. You cannot do this with your cells, organs, or tissues, but by gaining knowledge of divinity via spiritual virtues (such as the mind, conscience, and free will) that our Lord gave you.

If we see our body as a palace, could the stones, glass, porcelain, and wood come together and say, “Come on let’s make a palace, which will be the greatest palace in the world.” Could elements first turn into organic matter with macromolecules, then into cell organelles, then into cells, and finally into cells with different special duties, all on their own?

Finally, I believe it will be useful to give a table that shows every organ’s share in your body. My advice is not to evaluate anything materially. You cannot live without your pancreas, which only takes up a very small part of your body. Your heart, which is only 0.7% of your body, pumps the water of life (blood) to all of your organs; and your brain, which is 3.5%, manages your whole body. You can never give up on your kidneys, which take up only 0.5%.

Percentages of organ weights to the total body weight
Skeletal muscle (red meat)…………31.56 %
Skeleton and teeth…………14.90 %
Adipose tissue…………13.63 %
Skin…………7.81 %
Blood and lymph…………3.77 %
Lungs…………4.15 %
Brain and spinal cord…………3.52 %
Liver…………3.41 %
Intestines and stomach…………2.07 %
Kidneys…………0.51 %
Heart…………0.69 %
Spleen…………0.19 %
Pancreas…………0.16 %
Cartilage, ligaments, blood vessels and peripheral nerves…………13.63 %

All in all, we can say that the human body has holistic perfection with its functional parts, from hair to nail, to intestines and kidneys, as well as its aesthetic beauty.

Dear Peter! We have talked with you for a long time. I hope it was useful. I did everything I could. I am sorry that I couldn’t portray your true value!

Autism is a childhood cognitive disorder impacting brain development. Both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure. Numerous physical symptoms and disorders are common as well, including impaired motor skills such as walking, repetitive behaviors, and chronic gastrointestinal problems. The causes of autism are not known, but increasing scientific evidence pinpoints the genes involved in brain development. Many genes affect information processing in the brain. More than one gene is usually involved in this disease, so autism is a spectrum disorder, and it affects each individual differently and at varying degrees. The incidence rate of autism is approximately 1 per 150 children, and it is scientifically not clear, but boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls [1, 2].

When we visited them, I realized that my friend’s son, who was 2.5 year old then, would not look at or talk to his parents or to us. Instead, he sat by himself in a far corner of the house and made bizarre vocalizations. He screamed when we tried to talk with him. Most of the time, he was sitting inches away from the TV screen when it was turned on and playing with the cable when it was off. He had low muscle tone and problems with fine motor skills, so he could not actively play like our son. Instead, he was repetitively flapping his hands or rocking his body. Sometimes he engaged in self-injurious actions like head-banging or hand pinching. His parents, especially his mother were depressed due to all his tantrums, crying, and behavioral problems.

Finding an appropriate setting for an autistic child can be difficult. His parents decided to send him to a day-care for half-days so that the mother could refresh her mind from all the problems, and the boy could learn to socialize and begin to talk. Just two days later, she called me, crying, and telling of his bad experience in the day-care. “The teacher couldn’t figure out what to do with our son, and she put him in a room by himself. I think he is frustrated; he is more aggressive now.” She blamed herself thinking she had not made a good decision, causing her son to suffer more. I realized that she needed psychological and spiritual support to overcome this difficult period. It was certainly difficult to have a child that did not socialize, communicate, or even look at you. But as a believer, how does faith inspire us in this situation? What counsel is given to all sufferers by the Holy Books?

The Qur’an says we are “tested” in this life with different levels of challenges, and only the rightly guided believers will deserve Paradise:

“We will certainly test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and fruits (earnings); but give glad tidings to the persevering and patient: Those who, when a disaster befalls them, say, ‘Surely we belong to God (as His creatures and servants) and surely to Him we are bound to return.” (And they act accordingly.) Such are those upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy; and they are the rightly guided ones” (1:155-157) [3].

According to Islam, children with mental illnesses are considered as pure and innocent as angels. Parents who take care of sick children with affection and mercy are promised heaven. The merits accruing from such illnesses wash away all sins of the parents, and particularly those of the compassionate mother [4]. Also, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, encourages us to find treatments and cures for any disease. He declared:

“God did not send down an illness for which He did not send a cure.” [5]

The Bible many times describes children as a gift from God and reminds us that unhealthy children and adults are not sinners. Instead, God reveals His works on the human body with sickness and healing:

“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:1-3)

After a long discussion of the above verses and others in Holy Scriptures, my friend and her husband refreshed their minds with positive thoughts and decided to search for a special autism center to lessen their son’s symptoms and to increase his functional independence. They found a center only ten miles away. The center practices “Applied Behavior Analysis” (ABA) for the treatment of cognitive disorders. In this program, correct behaviors are rewarded with positive reinforcement, such as a snack, riding a bike, or going outside, and negative behaviors are ignored. By rewarding the positive, students lessen their aggressive or self-injurious behaviors, begin to communicate with their parents, and develop an internal awareness. When they become confident in their communication skills, they can learn anything with an ABA program. Within six months, my friend noticed a change in her son’s behavior. “He, for the first time ever, looked at us and hugged us. My husband and I were both moved to tears,” she said.

She observes that her son, now six, swims and plays with other children. He sounds out some words and practices more appropriate behaviors that they never thought they’d see.

Children with autism can come out of their shells by early diagnosis and intervention. If parents accept their child’s behavioral problems and collaborate with professional centers at an early age, children can adapt themselves well to family and social life. With patience, family members and their autistic child can experience success. What is needed is a solid determination combined with true respect and compassion and a deep trust in the goodness and mercy of God.

Esen Bakhautdin is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Cell Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic.

References

1. National Autism Association: http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/index.php
2. Autism Society of America: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage
3. Unal, Ali. 2007. The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, NJ: Tughra Books.
4. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 2010. 25 Remedies for the Sick, NJ: The Light, Inc.
5. Al-Bukhari (1980), Jami al Sahih.

The Arabic word that is used to describe the Prophet’s illiteracy is “ummi.” This word is derived from “umm,” which means “mother, the middle or navel of everything, where everything or something springs up.” Ummi, thus, connects the Prophet to his mother and refers to his purest nature which remained as unsullied as on the day she gave birth to him. This word also refers to the Prophet’s connection to his birthplace, Mecca, which is described in the Qur’an as “the mother of towns (Umm al-Qura, 6:92), and to the holy shrine Ka’ba, the mother of houses (Umm al-Buyut). The Prophet, peace be upon him, could not read the Torah or Bible or other books. God did not teach him to read or write, and this was one of the requirements for his messengership.

In fact, the following verse states this: You did not (O Messenger) read of any book before it (the revelation of this Qur’an), nor did you write one with your right (or left) hand. For then, those who have ever sought to disprove the truth might have a reason to doubt (it) (29:48). As can be understood from the verse, writing and reading were not taught to the Messenger of God. If he had known how to, those pursuing falsehood would have said, “He takes previous books, reads them, and explains to us what he read.” However, everyone-friends and foes-knew that the Prophet was illiterate. Consequently, here we see that his not being able to read and write is related to his messengership, and this fact was confirmed by his peers during his time, the Age of Happiness. In this respect, the Prophet was not made to write.

However, it is necessary to say here immediately that knowledge does not mean being able to write. The Messenger of God was given the knowledge of both former times and of the times to come. When God poured his blessings over him, the horizons lying between the East and the West cracked open, and he saw everything in front of him like the pages of a book, from an atom to the globe and from the macro-realm to the micro-realm. God blew into his spirit the capacity “to express and read the truth” when He said, “Read!” (96:1). God said “Read” and He made His Prophet recite as he memorized the revelation all at once. His words that he spoke in relation to every concern of life outside of the Qur’an are a separate treasury of knowledge, and this treasury is called “non-recited revelation” (wahy al-ghayri matluw). Non-recited revelation means revelation other than the Qur’an that was blown directly into the Prophet Muhammad’s spirit by God by means of Gabriel.

God’s Prophet spoke throughout his life, and the distinguished Companions at his side recorded his speech. At one time some Companions thought that it was not right to record things spoken by him who as a human being could get upset at times. Abu Hurayra describes this incident as follows: “None among the Companions of the Prophet know more hadith (the Prophet’s sayings and actions) than me; however, Abdullah b. Amr ibn al-As is an exception, for I did not write it, but he did.” Actually, according to the statement of Abdullah b. Amr, he would write down everything he heard from God’s Messenger. Some said to him, “You write every word that comes out of the Prophet’s mouth, but he is a human also. There are times when he is angry and times when he is pleased” (Hadith narrators conceal whose words these were as a matter of courtesy and because it is not necessary.) Due to this, Abdullah ibn Amr stopped writing and informed the Prophet about it. The Prophet raised his hand to his blessed mouth and said, “Write! I swear to God in Whose hand my life is that nothing but the truth comes out from here.”

Even if he was a human, he was still a prophet; his anger and his pleasure were for God, and he always spoke the truth in every state. Yes, none of his words were from whim, and they did not stem from human desires. More correctly, he did not speak from himself, but only what was revealed to him (see 53:3). The Prophet’s illiteracy should not be understood to mean that he did not know anything. Even before revelation came he was a perfect and exalted spirit. He acted according to the remnants of the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him. He was known by those around him as a virtuous person. If that had not been the case, at a time when people were killing one another in Mecca, would they have turned to him as a judge? God created him special. Then, He reflected His own knowledge to that mirror, and we witnessed the truths belonging to God in His Messenger.

Homo economicus

Pioneered by Adam Smith, one of the founders of capitalism, the idea of homo-economicus is used as a base to construct theories on consumption and investment. In his famous book The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith emphasizes the importance of self interest in human behaviors and describes the self-interest as the key driver of social prosperity. An economic agent has been constructed as a representative one which typifies the economic behavior of a typical person in the society and it is assumed that this agent systematically behaves rationally when deciding on any issue, especially the economic issues. If we define rationality, from the economics standpoint, as an act that aims for the maximum possible degree of acquirements with given limited resources, this constructed agent will be rational by behaving in favor of his/her own self-interest, hence he/she will always be optimizing.

Are we really rational?

In fact, the core belief in the idea of homo-economicus that homo-sapiens, the wise man, acts selfishly is a realistic assumption as self-interest is an important part of the innate human nature and an important intrinsic motive. We always want the best for ourselves and this motive is not exactly greed, but an intrinsic motivation to behave on one’s interest. But, it is also true that not everyone is rational in the society and not all behaviors are considered rational in an economic sense. To test whether the individuals make rational choices or not, Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted numerous experiments to test the human rationality and they reached this conclusion that human behaviors are not as rational as predicted by the homo-economicus assumption, instead they found that depending on how the question is framed or how things are measured people can make different choices. Also, they observed that not all behaviors are utility maximizing, sometimes people act altruistically, and sometimes people have the tendency to stay in the status quo. An interesting result of their experiment is that, when people make decisions, they emotionally value losses twice as much as they value an equivalent gain. In an experiment, they ask the subjects the following question:

Would you accept this gamble?
– 50% chance to win $150
– 50% chance to lose $100

They realized that, even though the expected value of gain in the above gamble (50% x $150= $75) is higher than the expected value of loss (50% x $100= $50), there are fewer takers of the gamble. Instead of showing their other experiment results, we can easily look at some of the marketing tricks to have an idea about the irrational choices we make in our daily life.
In a marketing strategy called Decoy marketing, marketers observe a boost in their sales of an expensive offer when they offer a similar item that is inferior in quality but about the same price of the expensive item. In his book Predictably Irrational Don Areily conducts an experiment using magazine subscription offers where subjects were offered two alternative subscription choices to The Economist magazine, one print only subscription (the inferior option which serves to make the combined offer look like a better value) and one internet and print subscription and they observe huge jump in sales due to the decoying effect.

In another experiment in Predictably Irrational, the author shows that people would walk 15 minutes to save $7 on an $18 item but wouldn’t take the same 15-minute trip to save the same amount on a $455 item. In fact, it is the same amount of savings, and a rational person is expected to behave consistently at each case.

The current financial turmoil is a typical example for how people can make irrational decisions. Currently, the world is experiencing a catastrophic financial and economic meltdown started at the subprime mortgage markets in United States and spread out to other financial markets. Some people claim that the irrational behavior of sophisticated investors was the root cause of the recent meltdown. To get a better understanding of the issue, we need to look at the balance of greed and fear in the investors’ behavior. While greed leads to overconfidence in the economy and excessive risk taking, the fear in the market leads to inactivity in the market and excessive aversion to risk. When investors make a decision about whether buying a stock, bond or any sophisticated security, they are expected to evaluate the expected reward versus the risk of possible expected loss. As predicted in Kahneman and Tversky study, the wisdom in the Wall Street is that “Fear always trumps greed.” Neuroscientists describe the situation when greed dominates the fear as a “moral meltdown,” and this is the situation where human brain loses control of reward and loss comparison and completely ignores risks. Take the trading in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) which was perceived as one of major problems that leads to the recent financial crises. Since the security was rated excellent by the rating agencies and all losses were insured by AIG insurance company, the investors observed too much reward opportunities while no weight was given to the risk of a collapse in the market. That is the point when greed dominates fear in the market and fear fails to balance greed in the normal investor’s brain. In the aftermath of the financial collapse, what we see right now is just the opposite of what was the case in the buildup of the financial bubble. Now, both investors and bankers are in a mode of excessive fear where negative news significantly decrease the stock prices and instead of providing credit to the markets, investors sit on a huge pile of cash.

If the excessive greed and overconfidence in the economy results in catastrophic events, should we ask investors to be less greedy? According to the Adam Smith, all humans have sympathy for the rich and famous. We can even find this in Holy Scriptures as well. There is always a sympathy for, and envy of, the rich. Hence, asking people to act against their innate nature may not be a wise decision but we should also keep in mind that this inherent human tendency can lead to moral corruption in the society. What we need is the balance of fear and greed in our behaviors and if one dominates the other, there will be misery for the whole.

Devrim Bulut holds a PhD degree in economics. Having taught at several universities in the United States for the last 5 years, he conducts research on market irrationality.

Original article: Czupryn, A. et al., Science 334, 1133 (2011).

Neurons are a highly specialized group of cells that transmit electrical stimuli to elicit responses in the body. This high specialization comes with a price: with few exceptions, neurons cannot divide to replace nonfunctional ones. Over the past decade, cell therapy, that is treatment of a disease by introducing new cells, has emerged as a new hope for neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, albeit with numerous challenges. One of the major problems in the field is to make the newly-introduced cells integrate into the neural circuitry of the host organism. This proof-of-concept study showed that it is possible for transplanted neurons to functionally integrate into the host brain and cure obesity in a specific genetic mouse model. This genetic mouse model lacks the ability to sense leptin, a hormone that regulates body weight and metabolism. Thus, these mice are prone to obesity and diabetes. The authors transplanted progenitor neurons isolated from the hypothalamus-a part of the brain that regulates numerous functions including metabolism, hunger and body temperature-of normal embryonic mice to the hypothalami of newborn diseased mice. Twenty weeks after the transplantation, cells were shown to be functionally integrated into the native circuitry. Integrated neurons were able to create electrical stimuli, transmit signals and, unlike the native neurons, respond to the hormone, leptin. Amazingly, transplanted mice were 30% lower in body weight and diabetes-free compared to the obese non-transplanted counterparts. The results were dramatic, despite the fact that only a few of the transplanted neurons were actually converted to the neurons that play a role in energy metabolism and leptin response. The authors explain this phenomenon by stating that the transplanted neurons may work as “antennas” to sense leptin and regulate other neurons in the native circuitry. Although current research is far from human application, it is still an important step towards treatment of detrimental neurological diseases.

2- A new record in solar cell efficiency

Original Article: Yella, A. et al., Science 334, 629 (2011).

Since their discovery in 1991, dye-sensitized solar cells (also known as Grätzel cells) have offered great potential despite their low efficiency values. They consist of dye-soaked titania nanoparticles coupled to an iodide-based electrolyte that allows for absorption of light and its conversion to electricity through the fast transport of electrons. According to a report in Science, researchers from ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) have substantially improved the efficiency values over 12%, making this type of solar cells a feasible contender to the incumbent silicon solar cells. To store the most sunlight, these cells absorb the colors of the light spectrum with the highest energies and reject the rest such as the green light. In addition to the increase in cell efficiency, Grätzel and coworkers have also reduced their cost by replacing expensive ruthenium dyes with a zinc-based dye. Finally, they have improved the voltage output by using a cobalt electrolyte, a redox system that is more compatible than the previous iodide systems. This new system with improved components has also increased the theoretical maximum efficiency to 30%, which will require further optimization in device design and engineering to achieve. The only major drawback is the use of organic solvents potentially limiting the efforts for large-scale fabrication.

3- IQ can still change in teenage years

Original Article: Ramsden S. et al., Nature 479, 113 (2011).

Intelligence quotient (IQ) is a standardized measure of human intellectual capacity that takes into account a wide range of cognitive skills. IQ is generally considered to be stable across the lifespan, with scores at one time point being used to predict educational achievement and employment prospects in later years. However Prof. Cathy Price and colleagues have found that verbal and non-verbal IQ can rise or fall in the teenage years. They tested 33 teenagers-19 boys and 14 girls-in 2004, when they were 12 to 16 years old, and again in 2008, when they were 16 to 20 years old. Each time, the teens took IQ tests that measured their verbal and nonverbal abilities. Then, using magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers scanned the teenagers’ brains while they performed verbal tasks, such as reading or naming objects, and nonverbal tasks, such as solving visual puzzles with their hands. The idea was to match their test scores with a picture of their brain structure and activity at each time. The test results revealed dramatic changes between their first testing and their second: verbal and nonverbal IQ scores of participants rose or fell by as many as 20 points (on a scale with an average score of 100). Some teens improved or declined in either their verbal or nonverbal skills, while others improved in one area and declined in the other. The brain scans mirrored the score differences. For example, in teens whose verbal IQ scores had increased, the scans showed increased gray matter density in a region of the brain activated by speech. Teens whose nonverbal skills had improved showed changes in a brain region associated with motor movements of the hand. The authors note that these were the largest changes observed, and that there might be many more that were not noticed.

4- A coordination path from an infant’s heart to the mother’s heart

Original Article: Feldman, R. et al., Infant Behavior and Development 34, 569 (2011).

A group of researchers sat 40 pairs of mothers and 3-month-old infants face-to-face, equipped with sticky skin electrodes on either side of their hearts. Beat for beat, mother and child’s hearts thumped together almost instantly as they shared loving looks or contented coos. This cardiac coupling worked only for moms with their own babies, and only when the duos synchronized smiles and other cheerful social behaviors. The researchers suspect that when humans mirror each other’s facial expressions, they may switch on specific areas in the brain that tell the heart when to thump. Melding with mom lasts longer than just a few beats, however. Babies who don’t tune in with their mothers are less empathetic as teenagers, according to previous work from the same group. Premature infants or those whose mothers have postpartum depression may be most at risk for losing this social skill because they miss out on early opportunities to interact with their mothers. The authors state that future research is required to examine the impact of interaction synchrony on other physiological processes, such as hormonal release or brain activation.

Funny though, sometimes while walking in the enchantment of the awakening nature around me, I run into a tree, and I hug it as if I met a friend. You can imagine how entertaining I am to the passers-by.

It was one of those days when I felt the presence of a second person near me. Strange enough, though, he wasn’t laughing at my hugging the tree.

“Hi fellow, what is wrong with you? Why aren’t you laughing at this lunatic who is in love with trees instead of people?” I asked.

I was shocked upon hearing his answer:

“The sight of people is of no value to me because I cannot see the light coming from them. But you are certainly shining through your voice.
“For me, people shine through their presence; they change my heart beat.”

I exhaled the air that was hiding in my lungs with anxiety, and teased: “So, I should be careful when I am talking to you since I cannot hide my true feelings from you!”

“You bet. But don’t worry; your voice is giving me positive signals.”

Then, I quickly returned: “I am happy to hear that. So, shall we play a game together?”

“Like what?”

“Alright. Only by listening, we are going to try to predict the coming of the next person.”

“I’ll take your challenge,” he said.

And, we kept silent in order not to miss the clues of an approaching person. Believe it or not, we waited for minutes and not a single person passed by. We could hear voices of kids running in the distance, wind rubbing the leaves, trunks of the trees squeaking as they swing, flies, birds flying or landing, etc., but not a single person passing by. Suddenly he said:

“Maybe we should play something else.”

“You know what? You are the ever first person with whom I can play the game of solitude. We are together but not like cans on a shelf. We are together like two flowers smiling at each other although we cannot see or hear one another. Outsiders may think we are lonely. But in essence, we are hand in hand in the depths of our hearts.”

“It is strange that you say this. Why should you enjoy solitude?” he asked.

I did not answer that question. Actually my silence was the answer; and I think, or hope, he got my answer. I didn’t want my discovery of a solitude-mate to disappear so abrupt.

“Here comes one!” he exclaimed. I could feel his joy of catching the first person. I smiled; and he felt it because I give out a warm and vibrating breath when I smile.

“It is so alive,” he said.

“What? The person?” I was startled. Why was he using “it” for a person?

“No, your smile. I don’t feel many smiles like yours. I usually hear frozen laughs and smiles of mass-production, which carry no sincerity.”

I was embarrassed by his compliment. Again I kept silent, but my face was burning up, and he felt that as well.

“Now you are as flushed as I was when we started talking.”

“Yeah, what had happened to you? Why were you so flushed earlier?” I inquired.

“I climb this tree often. I actually do this whenever there is nice weather. Sometimes, I feel the footsteps of someone, whom I want to catch. I rush down to the ground hoping not to miss the encounter. But always, I miss the person. Now, that spirit is standing before me.”

Once more, I was embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say. We both kept silent for a while. Then, I heard my daughter calling: “Dad, it’s time.”

She was the one predicted by my solitude-mate.

“Forgive me for disturbing your conversation,” she added.

“A conversation by presence cannot be disturbed by words,” replied my friend. We all chuckled.

I felt my daughter pulling my arm – an authoritative sign meaning “let’s go.” I grasped her hand firmly, turned back to my solitude-mate, and gave a goodbye silence, and he did the same to me. Then I gave him that lively smile, and he went through that shower of heat. I picked up my cane and started knocking on his ears again as I returned home with my daughter as my guide.

“The human brain, then, is the most complicated organization of matter that we know.”
Isaac Asimov

If someone asks what you recall when you look at the following pictures, I can hear you say ‘President Obama’ and ‘Statue of Liberty’. You just see a fragment of the pictures and remember them.

So, how does it happen? This is just a simple task for the brain. It stores an image and retrieves it whenever a part of it is seen. Amazing features of the brain, especially its power to learn and make decisions, inspires computer scientists in the field of artificial intelligence.

In computer science, an artificial neuron is a simple computational model of a neuron in the brain that excludes biological properties. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are composed of artificial neurons, and they are utilized to solve specific problems, especially those that require learning and decision-making. ANNs may not be the best solutions in various machine learning problems; however, they are accepted as strong alternatives. Although ANNs don’t claim to be so, currently they are not even close to producing a simple model of the brain. Let’s take a short journey into the world of ANNs to experience the extreme difficulty of modeling the brain.

Some Applications of ANNs

Figure 1: Overview of ALVINN structure. Images obtained from the camera installed on the vehicle are provided to the ANN, and ANN decides the steering angle.

(adapted from: http://virtuallab.kar.fei.stuba.sk/robowiki/images/e/e8/Lecture_ALVINN.pdf).

ANNs have various applications in very large spectrum of problems that require learning, such as the Autonomous Land Vehicle in a Neural Network (ALVINN). The structure of ALVINN is shown in Figure 1. The ALVINN project by Carnegie Mellon University started in 1986 and aims to make a vehicle without a driver (Mitchell, 1997). In this project, ANN learns the steering habits of a driver. A camera is mounted on the vehicle to capture the images of the road. With respect to the continuous images provided, ALVINN determines the steering level with 45 different angle positions from sharp left to sharp right. Steering is updated 15 times per second so that it allows real-time control while driving at 55 mph. The system is trained by the data obtained from a human driver in a simulator and a real vehicle. ALVINN was able to speed up to 70 mph and successfully drive at 55 mph for 90 miles.

Figure 2: Handwritten zip codes (LeCun, et al., 1989)

Another example is handwritten zip code recognition (LeCun, et al., 1989). Zip codes from US Mail written by various people with large variety of styles and sizes were used in the experiments. Figure 2 presents some examples of zip codes in the experiment database. After the ANN was trained with more than 7,000 digits in the zip codes, it was 99% successful in recognizing around 2,000 digits in new zip codes.

Learning and Decision-making in ANNs

In order to understand the challenges better, we will first examine learning and decision-making in neurons and ANNs on simple examples.

Figure 3: (a) A typical neuron (adopted from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neuron_-_annotated.svg), (b) artificial neuron in computer

Figure 3(a) illustrates a typical neuron which is the constituent of brain’s complicated network structure. Each neuron receives information as signals via dendrites, then evaluates it and generates a signal that is transmitted through its axon. A neuron has many connections between its dendrites and the axons of various other neurons. Figure (b) demonstrates an artificial neuron in computer science. It is considered a function: dendrites as the inputs of the function and generated signal via the axon as the output of the function.

Let’s see an example of an artificial neuron that understands if a given produce is a red apple or not. Think about how you understand whether a produce is a red apple or not. You see the shape and the color. However, it might be an artificial one for decoration. Then you can taste it and you get the sweetness of the apple. Similarly, our neuron receives three pieces of information as the input; ‘has circular shape?’, ‘is sweet?’, and ‘has red color?’. If the output is ‘yes’, that means the neuron recognizes the produce as a red apple. Otherwise, it will be ‘no’, which means the produce is not a red apple (Figure 4). Here, the neuron’s function is defined in such a way that it only generates ‘yes’ when all the inputs are ‘yes’.

Figure 4: Example inputs and outputs for the artificial neuron.

In an artificial neuron, some of the information can be more important than the others. For instance, to have red color may be more valuable in determining the price of produce. Assume that round shape and sweetness has equal value of $1; however, having red color is $2 – twice as valuable as the other features (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Artificial neuron with different input weights. Arrow thickness indicates the importance.

So, what is the big fuss about artificial neurons if they are only functions? In fact, the main feature of artificial neurons is learning. Considering the last example above, the neuron initially does not know the importance of the dendrites, i.e. the weights of inputs are all the same. If not trained, the neuron will generate the following answers which are sometimes wrong as indicated in Table 1.

Table 1: Artificial neuron before training; highlighted answers are wrong.

In real life, a teacher trains students. For instance, the teacher asks a question and if the received answer is not correct, she provides the right answer. Students learn the right answer and use this correct information in their lives. It is similar in artificial neurons as depicted in Figure 6. When the response of the neuron is incorrect, it adjusts the importance of the dendrites with respect to the correct answer hence it answers the same question correctly next time. During the training session, the neurons will be continuously asked the values of all the produce until it learns them all.

Figure 6: The learning process of the artificial neuron.

What if the problem gets complicated? Then one artificial neuron will not be sufficient, and we will need a network of neurons; ANNs. A more complex problem, ‘learning the digits’ is indicated in Figure 7.

Figure 7: (a) Digit learning problem, (b) ANN structure that learns digits. Due to the difficulty, only the connections between the input layer and first / last neurons in the middle layer are shown.

ANN has 3 x 5 = 15 input units like receptors of an eye retina. Each input unit corresponds to one square in the digits; either filled or blank. Each input unit is connected to the dendrites of all neurons in the middle layer. The output of each cell in the middle is connected to the dendrites of all neurons in the output layer. There are 10 output neurons corresponding to the digits from 0 to 9. After the ANN is trained, it provides a correct answer to the given digit as input. When digit ‘3’ is provided to the network, the neuron labeled with number ‘3’ in Figure 7(b) is triggered and outputs ‘yes’ whereas the rest of the neurons output ‘no’.

Figure 8: Faulty digit ‘3’ with a missing black square on the top right side.

Initially, all neurons in the network have equally weighted dendrites. After a reasonable amount of training, neurons adjust their weights, and ANN is able to identify digits. Here, we have some major challenges: what does ‘reasonable amount of training’ mean? When the ANN is undertrained, it will not always answer correctly to the digits given in Figure (a). In the other case, when the ANN is overtrained, it will memorize the digits provided during the training and will not recognize the faulty ones such as the one in Figure 8.

Challenges of ANNs

Beyond the mentioned the overtraining / undertraining problems, ANNs have a bigger challenge – how to determine the structure of ANN that fits the problem? In the digit learning example, we’re lucky because the structure is provided in Figure 7(b). However, the outcome of the solution may drastically depend on the number of neurons and the connections among them which is indeed a hard problem for ANNs.

The huge capability of the brain in learning and decision making comes from the huge number of neurons – around 100 billion – and the enormous amount of connections among them – from 100 to 500 trillion. The challenge to design such a huge network requires huge computation power. With the increasing number of neurons, ANN dramatically slows down especially during the learning process. Here, our example is a simple learning task of 3×5 pixel digits compared to the brain’s acquisition capacity of hundreds of images in our daily life. 

When the number of neurons gets larger, the reliability of network also reduces. Small adjustments in weights may change the entire behavior of the network hence it is easy to lose control of ANN. In contrast, the brain has a robust system, and its fault tolerance is admirable. Although neurons die every day, this doesn’t affect its performance significantly. The training method and how to update the weights are other hard problems leading to many different approaches in the neural computation field.

We have presented some simple tasks that can be solved using a few neurons and their challenges. On the other hand, consider the thousands of problems, various and incredible amount of information we have learned, and the thousands of decisions we make. The brain is truly amazing from the computer science perspective.

Bibliography

• Hertz, J. A., Krogh, A. S., & Palmer, R. G. (1991). Introduction To The Theory Of Neural Computation. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
• Hopfield, J. J. (1982). Neural networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational properties. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA , 79, 2554-2588.
• LeCun, Y., Boser, B., Denker, J. S., Henderson, D., Howard, R. E., Hubbard, W., et al. (1989). Backpropagation applied to handwritten zip code recognition. 1 (4), 541-551.
• Mitchell, T. M. (1997). Machine Learning. McGraw-Hill.

A mysterious program
Far beyond our reasoning,
The ones open to mysteries
Never fall on their knees.
Do have the faith, then,
Never be felled by confusion!

Close not your eyes to the beauty
Do not be stuck in the ugly!
Behold Him as mountains do the sun!
Watch ever for His Holy Light,
Put the darkness aside!

Keep whirling within the phenomena
As the sage do!
Glimpse the good sides of both
pleasure and grief

Relinquish gloom and worry
If your willpower is bustling
Become the spring of hope for all,
If you can!

Till the seekers of a tranquil corner
Shall run to you;
And those joining your aura
Shall overflow with fervent happiness.

According to the British writer Raymond Williams, culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in English. It has many definitions but here is the crux to remember: Culture is the way of life of a given society. Our culture is what we are as a group; it is learnt from birth and is passed down from one generation to another.¹

Culture is to the person as water is to the fish. It influences the way we perceive the world, tells us how to behave, and tells scholars how to think about the causes of behavior. It even shapes the moods and opinions of public about what to eat, what to wear, what to think is right or wrong, and much more. However, people are generally unaware of their cultural conditioning and do not realize that the way they recognize the world is not necessarily same as the way other groups do.²

An array of traditions, norms and values observed in a society raise its cultural character which distinguish societies from one another. These cultural variations influence the course of communications, may cause (the escalation of) conflict when it leads to miscommunication or misinterpretation, and can be problematic in cross-cultural encounters when one acts as if differences did not exist.³ The deeper one interacts with a different cultural group, the more he/she understands its the norms and priorities. This awareness of the ways cultures operate in communication and conflict will yield to the ability to respond effectively to these differences and prevent misunderstandings in intercultural settings.

One can list many dimensions or their sublevels that cause variations both between and within cultures. Below, we will discuss some major aspects along which cultures vary. Although it seems that there are no direct linkages between each topic, it is interesting to see how they actually relate to one another.

Senses of Self:

From the outside, a tree grown in California would probably look just like a tree grown in Japan. However, the growth of each tree is largely dependent on the soil that roots of the trees have to interact with in order to grow. The strength of the roots is also dependent on the environment the tree is exposed to, from sunshine to thunderstorms. Imagine the values of a particular culture represented as the roots of a tree. These roots (values) are the source of strength needed by the tree to survive in the surrounding environment (society). Of course, we don’t really see the roots, but we are constantly exposed to the tree nevertheless. The type of fertilizer and water fed to the tree contributes significantly to the growth of it. In addition, you can not transplant a tree into other soil unless you prepare the roots for the new soil.

The roots of each tree may have a different form, much like the cultures they represent. The Japanese roots are twisted together because they may have rockier soil and need the combined strength of the roots to support the tree during rough weather. The American roots, however, are individual, separate, straight, and deep, responding to their soil condition. ⁴

Societies that value individual uniqueness and self-determination are referred to as individualistic cultures in which people make up their own mind and show initiative independently. In this way of life, people deem themselves as the masters of their lives which they think they can control by themselves. On the contrary, cultures in which people identify themselves with groups are categorized as collectivistic societies. These societies consider many external parameters outside one’s control that affect the course of their lives, and there is more emphasis on the role of destiny in daily life. Many of the Asian cultures are collectivist, while Anglo cultures tend to be individualist.

A “self-determining” individual tries to preserve his/her image and interests by taking a competitive stance in interpersonal encounters. However, for those in collectivistic cultures, direct confrontation may reflect poorly on the group or disturb overall harmony; then open criticisms of others are generally avoided. When there is conflict, a third party is utilized for resolution. Since no direct confrontation takes place, potential damage to the relationships is minimized.

The value placed on individual freedom in individualist societies leads to the idea that everybody is equal regardless of age, social status, or authority, which calls for a tendency to be informal when addressing one another. In the US, for instance, superiors and subordinates often interact socially as equals, and an outsider typically cannot tell them apart. However, collectivistic societies place more value on seniority and hierarchy and, therefore, are more formal. They also put more emphasis on the role of power/status: Is the boss, a) always right because he is the boss, or b) only when he gets it right?

Someone devoted to freewill and someone with a more philosophical orientation may face miscommunication. The first would expect immediate action and responsibility and, failing to see it, may conclude that the latter is lagging, hindering, or dishonest. The second person would expect respect for the natural order of things and, failing to see it, may conclude that the former is pushy or impolite.

Communication styles:

Japanese can find Westerners to be offensively blunt. Westerners can find Japanese to be secretive, devious and bafflingly unforthcoming with information. French can feel that Germans insult their intelligence by explaining the obvious, while Germans can feel that French managers provide no direction. ⁵

In some cultures, people presume ample commonality of understanding and attitude in their counterparts hence they feel that it is unnecessary to be “over-explicit”; information is communicated in indirect ways embedded in the existing context or internalized in the person per se. Whereas in other cultures, information is part of, and conveyed through, the verbal content of the communication; things are made explicit, and there is considerable dependence on what is actually said. The first types of cultures are known as high-context, and the latter low-context respectively. Due to the significance of social information networks, collectivistic cultures tend to be high context.

Since the focus is the message itself rather than the context, low context cultures are open to communication errors when they assume more shared knowledge than there actually is. This direct approach may help to avoid communication errors when used properly (in a good timing and context). However, communicators may fail to “feel the emotional state” of the other party, or may hurt feelings while trying to be “direct.”

Though, low context cultures expect thorough explanations, high context cultures take them as redundant discussions on details, and even somewhat hesitate to make mistakes with too much talk. These cultures are more cautious about the potential implications of the message delivered. Silence and other indirect/non-confrontational methods are frequently applied and patience is promoted for the sake of overall harmony. On one side, silence is viewed as a communication breakdown, whereas on the other it is utilized as an actual communication component at times.

Perception of time:

I was once told that one of the South American groups in the U.S. used to send to different invitations for the same occasion. One was truly showing the ceremony time, yet the other was for an hour before the actual kickoff. The first was for the American friends and the latter one was for their own community to offset possible delays.

Time is beyond what a clock reads: “There are two blessings in which most people are in great loss: Good health and free time.” ⁶ In addition to being a major blessing, it is one of the most central differences that separate cultures and cultural ways of doing things.

In the West, time has a present focus moving toward the future at an acknowledged swiftness. Events are explained via specific causes, and there is an appropriate time and place for everything. This notion of time is actually a product of the Industrial Revolution which requires certain tasks to be achieved at a predetermined hour. Concentration is on one event at a time, schedules and deadlines take priority, and interruptions are not very welcome, which ultimately seals people off from one another, as limited time allows some people in and leaves some others out.

In Western cultures, time is considered as a limited reserve which is continually being used up. It’s like having a bathtub full of water that is running down the drain, and can never be replaced. It has to be used as it runs down the drain or it is wasted.⁵ Time is perceived quantitatively; it is measured and almost tangible. Many expressions such as Boucicault’s following words highlight its importance and urge its awareness in these societies: “Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” “Time is money” is a household expression, and people often talk about “saving,” “spending,” “wasting,” “finding,” or “losing” time. Time orders life and priorities: “I don’t have time to do that.” Since time is prioritized, so is accomplishing a task as quickly as possible; thus taking risks are expected to bring the future closer.

As time is limited, punctuality becomes a desirable quality and wasting someone’s time is regarded as an insult. Lest communication takes more time, individual-oriented cultures promote direct and competitive communication, whereas group-oriented cultures prefer indirect and harmonious approaches to communicate and avoid direct confrontation. Individualistic cultures may view this communication avoidance as passive, unwilling, or even ignorant. On the other hand, collectivistic cultures may view the direct approach to communication as being rude.

In the East, time is circular, spiral, even repetitive, and has unlimited continuity; in old agricultural societies which depend on the months/seasons of the year, it renews itself annually (traditional Chinese calendar has a period of 12 years). Other unrelated events or mystical reasons may be used to explain a given event, “as time is viewed an unfolding of stories already written, or a play in which much of the set is invisible.” ³ This idea of time also goes along with fate and destiny, and is connected to other people as well as periods of history. People may handle many things at once in this approach. A manager’s office in such a culture typically has an open door, a ringing phone and a meeting all going on at the same time. Within all these intermingling events, punctuality is nice, but not essential.

In Eastern cultures, time is more plentiful and people tend to be more patient. It is quite acceptable to make people wait all day, and then tell them to come back later. Time-abundant cultures tend to rely on trust to do business, whereas time-limited cultures don’t have time to develop trust and have other mechanisms to substitute trust (such as judiciary mechanisms).⁵ This time pressure may also account for segmented relationships in Anglo cultures, while time-abundant societies tend to establish lifetime relationships. Furthermore, societies that have a more flexible sense of time are more comfortable with uncertainties and accommodate changes in verbal plans, whereas time-limited cultures prefer everything to be expressed in written details and abide by these binding plans.

In one viewpoint, past and future are both present in this stretching time that loops back and forth. In the other, time starts with the very current instant and extends into the future. In a negotiation setting of parties with these two different notions of time, one of the parties may take time to provide extensive information regarding their stories and their relationships to the issue; weaving themes, feelings, ideas, and experiences together as they remember the past and project the future. When it is the other party’s chance to speak, they may promptly project flow charts showing processes for decision-making and speak about their intentions for entering the negotiation process right away. Neither side would feel satisfied with this meeting, but everyone would feel that they were not “on the same page.” ³

Therefore, as people from different cultural backgrounds work together, they should ask questions about their values and needs, and how these may affect their progress. Both cultures would be comfortable with meeting face to face in a mediation setting to frankly discuss differences of any sort.

Figure 1, serves as a summary of the dimensions we have mentioned so far. While the generalizations listed do not apply uniformly to all cultures, they will help convey a pattern:

Figure 1. Comparison of various cultural dimensions

Most North European and North American cultures fall into Group A.

Most Latin American, Asian, South European, and some African cultures overall fall into Group B.

Each of the variables discussed here shows only a glimpse of various dimensions across cultures, which do not apply to all individuals within a culture. One should not generalize by ignoring individual differences; e.g., “he is like that because he is Asian – all Asians are nonverbal.” An individual’s behavior may well vary depending on the situation, individual personality, mood, etc. as well. Cultural differences discussed here are general guidelines and there will always be exceptions. Anyone is unique in a sense and must be approached accordingly. It is important to remember this uniqueness at times of negotiations or unease, and not rush to make decisions before clearly understanding the situation. Keep in mind that different cultures see the world through diverse filtering lenses; there may not be a disagreement but just a different interpretation of what is going on.

As a result of globalization, the world is becoming smaller and people of various cultures are able to communicate freely. Ideas and perspectives can span across cultures through different forms of media like the television, the newspapers and the Internet; thus, cultures are blending more and more every day, which makes dialogue and mutual understanding essential. Only by learning about, respecting, and celebrating these differences, we can build mutuality and co-operative relationships, rather than breeding enmities.

Osman Senkaya has a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Leadership.

Notes

¹ http://www.celt.iastate.edu/international/culture-extras/CultureResources.pdf

² Kim, Min-Sun. 2002. Non-Western Perspectives on Human Communication: Implications for Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Sage Publications.

³ LeBaron, Michelle. “Cross-Cultural Communication.” http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cross-cultural_communication

⁴ Elashmawi, Farid, and Philip R. Harris. 1993. Multicultural Management: New Skills for Global Success. 3rd ed.: Gulf Publishing Company.

⁵ “Differences in Cultures.” http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm

⁶ Sahih Bukhari: Vol. 8, Book 76, Number 421.

⁷ Foster, Dean A. 1992. Bargaining Across Borders: How to negotiate business successfully anywhere in the world: McGraw-Hill.