If a gecko’s feet used a secretion to stick to surfaces, they wouldn’t be able to move. And geckos can stick to surfaces, even if there is no air, meaning they don’t use sucking discs. Some scientists suggested an electrostatic charge might help geckos resist gravity, but they’re too heavy for such a charge. Research has shown that  geckos can still cling to surfaces, even if the air is charged with electron ions. If geckos were resisting gravity thanks to electrostatic charges, then the air filled with ions would prevent such resistance.

It turns out geckos are able to adhere to surfaces thanks to the numerous microscopic hairs, or setae, on the bottoms of their feet – as many as 2 million hairs on just one foot. Each of these 2 million hairs further branches out to 1000 more miniscule hairs, totaling 2 billion hairs per foot. The thickness of each hair is one five thousandth of a millimeter. To make a comparison, there are around one hundred thousand strands of hair on a human head. If we had the same number of hairs found on the foot of a gecko, then our hair would cover a surface as large as a football field.

The hair on a gecko’s feet are directed towards its heels. As a gecko steps forward, it presses on the ground and pulls back a little, enabling a maximum level of contact and generating a weak attractive force at the molecular level, called van der Waal’s force, which connects the foot and the ground.

Van der Waal’s force is the bonds between molecules that arise from the forces between positively and negatively charged sectors. An atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. If the positive charge of the nucleus is equal to the negative charge of electrons, the atom does not carry a charge. Electrons move randomly around the nucleus, sometimes swarming on one side of the atom for a short period of time. When this happens, one side of the atom will have a negative charge, while the other side is positive. Such polarized atoms will momentarily enter into electrostatic interactions with other atoms. This results in an attractive force, which usually lasts for a short period of time. Even though this interaction comes into existence momentarily and then disappears, it is sufficient to hold atoms together in an environment where there are many atoms.

Van der Waal forces do not only appear inside matter and among atoms; they exist even between larger objects, like our hand and the wall it touches. Yet these forces are very weak. At the atomic level, our hand looks like a range of mountains, and only the atoms on top of the summits are in contact with the wall. What makes the gecko unique is that contact occurs between the wall and each one of the millions of hairs on the gecko’s feet. When the gecko lifts its foot, the attractive force is broken. It’s that simple – no suction cups necessary!

My anguish upon hearing about the attacks was magnified given that I had just eaten a waffle and bought artisan chocolate in the beautiful city center; that I had just taken the gritty metro with the help of kindly locals, discovered a trendy Moroccan café to read in, and visited the quirky landmark Atomium. Turkish conference organizers, residing in Brussels, invited me into their home for dinner, and became my friends. I bonded to the city during this colorful bouquet of moments. I was pained that they and all of Brussels’ occupants were experiencing intense fear and trauma after the attacks, and I was deeply frustrated that our efforts to create a coalition of global Muslims willing to combat extremism were overshadowed by actual terror.

The diverse Muslim community in Brussels, about 6% of the population,[1] will likely now not only suffer from the aftereffects of the attacks, but from heightened discrimination by those that will conflate all Muslims with the perpetrators, who reportedly included gangster-types who enjoyed watching IS (Islamic State) videos while smoking marijuana and drinking beer, even though intoxicants are forbidden in Islam.[2] Many non-Muslims, and (unfortunately) a few Muslims as well, believe that Islam mandates and sanctions “jihad,” which they understand as a violent holy war against non-believers, or at least a religiously-sanctioned armed struggle. The reasons for which the IS attacked Brussels are complex, and include alienation, lack of social integration, the high number of radicalized Muslims in the region of the city called Molenbeek, and the desire to profit from social chaos and the rift between Muslims and non-Muslims resulting from the violence.[3] Indeed, the “Molenbeek Jihadists” likely justified their violence as fulfilling their Islamic jihad. In glaring contradiction, the global Muslim religious leaders gathered for that conference patently rejected that interpretation of the term, instead reaffirming the diverse and positive meanings “jihad” connotes.

The many understandings of jihad

The term “jihad” is employed in a variety of ways. The Arabic verb jahada means to strive or to make an effort on the path of God. The question remains: how, and towards what? Many Muslims understand their religious duty to improve the external, material world as their “lesser jihad.” The “greater jihad,” on the other hand, refers to the internal, spiritual struggle to control one’s basest instincts. The Turkish Islamic scholar and mystic, Fethullah Gülen, notes that “believers find peace and vitality in such a balanced jihad.”[4] Ignoring the greater jihad has significant negative consequences for our mental and physical health, our communities, and the greater society in which we live. Ultimately, as Gülen points out, “those that succeed in their greater jihad will succeed in their lesser jihad, and those that fail in their greater jihad will fail in their lesser jihad.”[5] In other words, if we are not able to conquer our negative emotions and reactions internally, we cannot have a constructive impact on the external world.

Obviously, those involved in the attacks appear to have little understanding of Islam, and have also neglected the greater jihad. In fact, to work effectively towards halting this violence, members of the global community would do well to consider the universal applicability of the concept of the greater jihad, which has a greater potential to lead to thoughtful dialogue, diplomacy, and an understanding of the root causes of terrorism, than does reactionary violence.

Those advocating violent jihad form a minority current of Muslims, perhaps inspired by some figures who emphasized the combative meaning of the term, laying the foundation for future radical Islamists.[6] Some other scholars believed jihad should be used to counter tyranny and abolish “Satanic forces,” and argued that the Qur’an mandated fighting Jews and Christians until “they are subdued.”[7] Jihad, they believed, was not meant to be merely a defensive war, nor temporary. Rather it must continually be exercised to establish the centrality of God’s authority, and to cleanse the earth of corruption.[8] However, many others believe aggression has no place in Islam, although Muslims are allowed to defend themselves and their communities from aggression. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Help your brothers whether they are oppressors or victims. You can help oppressors by making them stop their oppression to others.”[9] The Qur’an (2:190) states, “Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but do not aggress. Lo! God loves not aggressors.” If your opponent moves towards peace, you must also; “But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers” (2:193).

In other words, jihad can take the form of physical defense, but Muslims are not to instigate the hostilities. Clearly, jihad does not sanction terrorism; contemporary mainstream religious authorities have rejected the use of that sacred term to refer to killing civilians. They follow the precedent of classical Muslim jurists, who also had no tolerance for terror attacks against innocent civilians, including poisoning, rape, abductions, or attacks against travelers.[10] Jihad cannot be carried out in anger or for revenge. According to the Qur’an killing a human being unjustly is as violent as killing all humankind (5:32).

Even during the early rise of Islam, jihad was not used to convert Muslims by force, but to compel antagonistic non-Muslims to cease their aggressions towards the growing Islamic community, who were forging their way in a hostile tribal environment. Regarding this early period, Sherman Jackson writes, “The purpose of jihad, in other words, is to provide for the security and freedom of Muslims in a world that kept them under constant threat.”[11] Indeed, the Qur’an clearly states, “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:256)—no forced conversions are allowed. In the Qur’an, the word “jihad” is most often mentioned in its religious sense, meaning “to strive religiously,” and does not indicate that Muslims should kill non-Muslims for the sake of a holy war.

Lesser and greater jihad

While jihad can take a myriad of forms, there are two types identified in Islamic discourse: lesser jihad and greater jihad. This terminology apparently comes from a hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), after the Battle of Badr, when he returned victorious from fighting the idol-worshiping Meccans that opposed him. He said to a companion, “You have returned from the lesser jihad (al-jihad al-asghar) to fight the greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar).”[12] The greater jihad, he explained, was to struggle against one’s own passions. On another level, it’s his opposition to the idolatry that offers us the model for clearing one’s own soul from finding any trivial thing important. While some Muslims have questioned the authenticity of that hadith, the fundamental concepts are widely accepted in Islam. Sufis, in particular, have made use of those terms in their mystical understanding of that tradition.

Before turning to the potential of the greater jihad, let me elaborate briefly on the lesser form. The lesser jihad can simply refer to the external, material, physical struggle to better one’s world; for example, through combatting poverty, pollution, bigotry, or cancer. Your lesser jihad can be to raise children on your own, or to figure out how to get along with your in-laws. Life is a struggle; life is a jihad. According to a 2002 Gallup poll, the majority of Muslims polled in Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, and Jordan defined “jihad” as one’s “divine duty,” “promoting peace,” “struggling towards a noble cause,” “a commitment to hard work,” and “assisting others.”[13] The vast majority did not mention any militaristic meaning at all. The famous mystic and poet, Mevlana Rumi, offers a poem which illustrates a Sufi understanding of the lesser jihad:

The Sufi opens his hands to the universe
and gives away each instant, free.

Unlike someone who begs on the street
for money to survive,
a dervish begs to give you his life.[14]

These verses convey the urgency with which a Sufi mystic desires to give away everything, even his own life, to benefit the other.

Let us now shift our attention to the greater jihad. Frequently emphasized by Sufis, this is a spiritual struggle to seek God’s pleasure and closeness, to let one’s own light—God’s love—shine through, by metaphorically polishing the lamp of one’s heart. If a person can fully attain fana’, or the obliteration of one’s nafs or ego, she can do away with the binaries of mind and heart, emotion and reason, self and Godliness, and allow mindfulness of God to guide her actions.

Around 1915, Walter Bradford Cannon first described the “fight-or-flight response,” referring to the physiological processes involved when an animal perceives a threat.[15] In humans, this impulse also appears to be instinctual; without discipline, we are reactive beings. When we feel threatened, the tiny region in the back of our brain—the hypothalamus—sets off an alarm. This releases hormones, including adrenaline, which raises our blood pressure and increases our heart rate. If this happens frequently, we are at greater risk of depression, anxiety, heart disease, and impairment to our memory and concentration.[16] This impulse suppresses our use of judgement. We do not deliberate, or weigh options. Our egos react; our negative emotions take control. Within this cycle, we are unable to take charge of our own fears, hatreds, greed and, resentments; we are slaves of our own egos. Being reactive is stressful, aggressive, dysfunctional, and almost always leads to counterproductive outcomes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, humans are hard-wired with the fight-or-flight response. Perhaps this impulse was once helpful when ancient humans lived in primal hordes, because then they worried about being eaten or finding food to eat. Today, however, this instinct gives us life-shortening stress, and releases our own negativity on the world. This then flows in three directions: towards other communities, towards others in one’s own community, and back towards the self. Thus, the so-called “jihad” of the “Molenbeek Jihadis” is nothing more than violent, impulsive reactivity and undisciplined ego, resulting in considerable harm to those in Brussels, to other Muslims, and obviously to themselves.

Yet how can humans escape this negative cycle that appears to be genetically determined? To break this pattern, Islam emphasizes the purification of the soul through self-discipline. In other words, the greater jihad creates space inside the individual for God’s will to be remembered. Mevlana Rumi has stated, “The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.”[17] Gülen encourages Muslims to struggle not against external enemies, “for the enemy is within ourselves.”[18] People can become enslaved by their passions, he argues. The greater jihad, in his view, leads to freedom of spirit.

The underlying concepts of the greater jihad are not unique to Islam, of course, but are found in many other traditions. One example can be found in the Buddhist Dhammapada (verses 334, 335, 336), which warns that if a person is unable to control his impulses, his miseries will multiply. The following verses illustrate this:

The craving of a person who lives carelessly grows like a creeping vine. He plunges from existence to existence, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest. Whomever this miserable craving, this entanglement in the world, overcomes, his sorrows grow, like grass well rained upon. But whoever overcomes this miserable craving, in this world so hard to overcome, sorrows fall away from him, like a drop of water falling from a lotus blossom.”[19]

Returning to the Islamic context, however, several practices can help counter the fight-or-flight response.

Overcoming our nafs

To avoid being reactive, and to calm our brains when fired up, several practices may be of benefit. The Mayo Clinic advises us that if we feel we are about to experience the fight-or-flight response, we should be quiet, try to still the mind, and avoid impulsive responses. We are also reminded to seek support from others.[20] The Islamic tradition supports the wisdom of this medical advice. Prayer and spiritual meditation quiet the mind, and increase our ability to exercise self-control. Reading, or listening to the Qur’an, increases our ability to cope with stress, as does the devotional chanting of the attributes of God (the Sufi practice of dhikr). Meeting with other Muslims for devotional purposes supports our attempts to be mindful of the Divine. Regarding those who are on the spiritual path, Gülen writes, “Eliminating evil through goodness, loving ‘love,’ and being in a constant struggle against feelings of enmity are as sweet to them as the whisper of their own soul.”[21]

This concept of “eliminating evil through goodness” offers a conduit not only to deal with any evil or negativity within the individual, but also to confront and transform the specter of violence in our midst. Personal transformation leads to social transformation, Gülen implies. The global community has a responsibility to counter all forms of oppression and terrorism; however, the starting point is within the self.

Conclusion

Upon my return from Brussels, when I heard about the attacks, I felt fear —I only missed the attacks by four days. At the same time, I understood that others much more directly affected by the violence suffered immeasurably greater trauma. The peril in this cycle of violence is that no one is more dangerous than a person who is afraid. Allowing the fight-or-flight response to trigger a rush of adrenaline in our systems, creating panic, reactivity, and impulsivity, is not only hurtful to ourselves but to our relationships with others in our families, communities, and the greater social landscape. It is both tragic and predictable that many surviving victims of violence often respond with forms of violence; in this case, many devastated residents of Brussels might now be predisposed to retaliate against the Muslims and immigrants in their midst through discrimination, stigma, intimidation, or violent confrontations. The evening of March 22, however, people gathered in Bourse Square in tribute, many creating chalk drawings with messages of peace, love and hope, such as “we are one,” “BXLove,” “terror has no religion,” or simply a heart accompanied by the word “love.”[22]

This uplifting response touched the world, and mirrors the performance of the greater jihad. Gülen writes, “Love is the most essential element of every being, and it is the most radiant light, and it is the greatest power; able to resist and overcome all else.”[23] To release this love emanating from the Divine, we polish the lamp of our hearts through spiritual discipline, prayer, meditation, and mindfulness. Gülen adds, “…a person who is armed with love needs no other weapon. Indeed, love is strong enough to stop a bullet or even a cannon ball.”[24] Jihad is not a call to war, it is the expression of love.

[1] Pew Research Center: Religion and Public Life, “Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Percentages,” December 18, 2012.

[2] “Brussels attacks: Molenbeek’s gangster jihadists,” BBC News Magazine, March 24, 2016.

[3] Jason Burke, “Why Did the Bombers Target Belgium?” The Guardian, March 22, 2016; Pieter Van Ostaeyen, “Why have IS jihadists targeted Belgium?” BBC World News. March 25, 2016.

[4] M. Fethullah Gűlen, Towards a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance (New Jersey: The Light, 2006), 172.

[5] Ibid., 173.

[6] Michael Knapp, “The Concept and Practice of Jihad in Islam,” Parameters 33:1 (Spring 2003), 84.

[7] Sayyid Qutb, “Jihad in the cause of God,” Milestones (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2005), 40.

[8] Ibid., 41.

[9] Gűlen, Towards a Global Civilization, 9. From Sahih Bukhari Vol. 3, Book 43, Hadith 624.

[10] Knapp, “The Concept,” 84.

[11] Sherman Jackson, “Jihad in the Modern World,” Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives, edited by John J. Donahue and John L. Esposito (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 401.

[12] Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali, “The book of invocation,” Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din, translated by Kojiro Nakamura as Ghazali on Prayer (Tokyo, University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, 1975), 167; also ‘Ali ibn ‘Uthman al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub (The Revelation of the Veiled): An Early Persian Treatise on Sufism by al-Hujwiri, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson (London: E.J. Gibb Memorial Trust, 1911, 2000), 200.

[13] Richard Burkholder, “Jihad – ‘Holy War’, or Internal Spiritual Struggle?” Gallup, December 3, 2002.

[14] Joan Chittister, “Rumi: Icon of Wisdom,” A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God (New York: Orbis Books, 2013).

[15] Walter Bradford Cannon, Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage: An Account of Recent Researches into the Function of Emotional Excitement (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1915).

[16] Mayo Clinic Staff, “Chronic Stress puts your health at risk,” Healthy Lifestyle: Stress Management, July 11, 2013.

[17] Jamal Rahman, Kathleen Schmitt Elias, and Ann Holmes Redding, Out of Darkness into Light, (Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing, 2009), 53.

[18] Fethullah Gűlen, The Statue of our Souls (New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2011), 87.

[19] Glenn Wallis (translator), The Dhammapada: Verses on the Way (New York: Random House), 70.

[20] Mayo Clinic Staff, “Chronic Stress.”

[21] Gülen, Towards a Global Civilization, 120.

[22] Brian McBride, “Chalk Drawings of Hope, Solidarity Fill Brussels Square,” ABC News, March 22, 2016.

[23] Gülen, Towards a Global Civilization, 1.

[24] Ibid., 6.

At first glance, it sounds frightening that the Earth’s magnetic poles are about to shift. But when we study geologic history, we’ll see that such a shift has happened before – many times. When scientists study the direction of the Earth’s core, it suggests that all sediment cores must have the same direction. But research shows that some sediment cores from the deepest parts of the ocean have the opposite direction. This helped scientists confirm that magnetic pole reversal is a natural event which happens, approximately, every half a million years. Since the last one occurred 780,000 years ago (the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal), the Earth is overdue for another reversal.

Some scientists say that this upcoming reversal will be drastic. During a magnetic pole reversal, solar winds could punch holes in the ozone layer. This could damage power grids, and affect cancer rates and the climate. The aurora borealis, normally only visible in the extreme northern hemisphere, would be visible every night all over the world.

Such a magnetic pole shift is a physical rule, not the exception. Each reversal happens over hundreds or thousands of years; it is not a clean flip. Magnetic fields morph and push and pull at one another, with multiple poles emerging at odd latitudes throughout the process. Scientists estimate reversals have happened hundreds of times over the past three billion years. And while reversals have happened more frequently in “recent” years, when dinosaurs walked the Earth, a reversal was more likely to happen only once every one million years.

Many conspiracy theorists like to claim that a magnetic pole shift will mean doomsday. But according to scientists who have studied geologic history, such a pole shift is nothing to fear, as it has happened hundreds of times throughout the Earth’s history. Though it could mean big changes for human civilization, we cannot be absolutely sure whether it will be the end of the Earth or not.

Muslim theologians who have been compelled to respond to such claims have also offered a number of philosophical and rational arguments to prove the existence of God. This paper aims to explore the arguments for the existence of God put forward by some of these Muslim theologians. Islamic Scholars such as Nursi (d. 1960), Al-Kindi (d. 870), Gulen (2000), and others have provided sound arguments based on theological, philosophical, and scientific reasoning that consists of comprehensive and valid premises, which taken together make a strong case for the existence of God.

The cosmological argument is one of the primary arguments of the kalam theology, which states that the initial point is existence, and thus the universe must have an origin. One of the original developments of the cosmological argument in Islamic tradition was formed by Al-Kindi (d. 870), who was one of the earliest Islamic philosophers to initiate an argument for the existence of God based upon purely empirical grounds (Nasr 1964). His main contribution is the cosmological argument (dalil al-huduth) for the existence of God, in his “On First Philosophy” (Nasr 1964). He provided four different variations of this theory, all of which state that a cause must be required.

Al-Kindi contends that the creation had a beginning in time and that the universe cannot bring itself into existence; thus, diversity in the universe must be caused by an external agent and the origin of variety within the universe indicates a creator. Ultimately, this creator is God (Ozalp, 2014, Slide 29). The cosmological argument had been rejected by some philosophers, because the notion of causality upon which it rests its foundations has been open to doubt since the commencement of Kalam (Fakhry, 1957). Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) however, rejected these doubts, on the basis that the requirement of this foundation is only a perception (Ghazali, 1997).

Taking this viewpoint into consideration, it is necessary to note that others still regard the cosmological argument highly, and it is still used by Muslim and western theologians today. In response to the claims about the universe being infinite in time, modern scholars use the following argument: if the universe was infinite in the past, there would be no such thing as the present. In other words, if there was no beginning in time, we would have never arrived at the present. This means that both time and space had a beginning and therefore need a (creative) cause. According to the cosmological argument, this cause is none other than God.

The default argument is another important argument for the existence of God, and it was first advanced by Nursi. He offered four possibilities for existence to come into being. He then claimed that if the first three are proven to be false and refuted through valid arguments, God’s existence will be proven by default. He argued that since creation exists; that every single being comes into existence in a necessary and great manner; and that all beings are finite and not eternal, they were either:

• Created by ordinary causes or formed through causes;
• Formed of their own power;
• Created by nature;
• Created by God.

According to Nursi (1995), human justification cannot find any other explanation apart from these four possibilities. Nursi then refuted the first three claims by using logical arguments.

In regards to the first three possibilities, Nursi’s refutations are based on the argument that causes do not possess intelligence. For example: the availability of ingredients are not enough to make a cake, hence a chef is required. If the universe was to occur by itself, then atoms and particles (which are the ingredients of the universe) require infinite knowledge to create something by themselves.

The following analogy may also shed some light onto the argument: If an architect is not accepted as the designer of a building, then each brick must possess complete knowledge of architecture. Furthermore, nature cannot cause the universe to come into being because nature, itself is a work of art; therefore, nature itself cannot be the artist. Nature is a set of laws, therefore it cannot be the lawgiver. Since the initial three theories are impossible, by default, God’s existence is proven. (Ozalp 2014, slide 20).

Nursi also provided another analogy in regards to the existence of God: a commander of an army can achieve many accomplishments by commanding a large quantity of soldiers. However, if the soldiers were required to perform these duties themselves, without guidance, it would result in disarray and have chaotic consequences. Similarly, assigning all astronomical occurrences to God develops a simple methodology to comprehend that God, Who through controlling astronomical circulations and orbits, and displaying art in the course of certain phases, proves there is Divine wisdom displayed in the universe. There is one Commander of the universe, and undoubtedly, that is God Almighty (Nursi 2001).

Nursi also explained the fact that God is the eternal one, without beginning or end. Non-existence is insubstantial to Him, for He does not require anything to exist, owing to the fact that life begins in His Essence. Without a creator, it is impossible for life to originate by itself, hence the only plausible and logical reasoning would be to accept a creator that has power over all things (Nursi 1993).

As we shift to a contemporary Muslim theologian, we first look at the idea of “Occam’s Razor,” a popular philosophical idea, which states that, “The simplest answer is usually right” (Clark, 2007). Supported by Occam’s Razor, Gulen appears to have a straightforward approach in regards to the existence of God. He argues that the existence of God is too obvious to require any arguments (Gulen 2000).

Gulen (2000) contends that it is impossible to prove the non-existence of God. In relation to creation, Gulen (2000) argues that anything can exist, at any time or at any place, and in any form. Therefore, everything is contingent, meaning it is possible that things can exist or not exist. As Gulen (2000) contends, things that are isolated are able to receive different qualities. The reality is that living and non-living things are provided with particular chosen forms; therefore, these chosen forms that exist require one who determined them to exist. Nothing can dictate how something will come into existence, except an infinite power behind all things, and possessing infinite will and knowledge over all things – and that power is God. Furthermore, Gulen argues that everything changes and thus everything has a beginning and an end. Therefore, whatever had a beginning requires something that has no beginning. Moreover, since physical agents cannot originate themselves, and since infinite regression is not possible, reason states that a creator is necessary, and this necessary creator is God Almighty.

Gulen (2001) also responds to the question of “Who created God?”, put forward by those who make a counter-argument to the causation argument for God. He (2001) states that the causation argument is not valid for God because if this criteria is applied to God, there will then be a never ending chain of creators. This is also elaborated on by Ergi (2013), who offers an analogy of a train and its carriages, and asks: what pulls the last carriage? The answer is the one in front, and then the one in front again; however, when arriving at the locomotive, it is utterly nonsensical to repeat the same question again, since the locomotive is self-powered and does not require an external power. Thus, the same question cannot be asked when reaching God in the chain of creation of matter. Taking this into consideration, this argument unequivocally proves the existence of God, since it would be logical to accept one creator who has no beginning than to enter into the impossible argument of infinite regress.

Can the life be self-originated? Is life a process that uncoiled corresponding with laws that could be comprehended by mankind? Natural laws do not have a real existence. Natural laws and causes draw the inference from the connections of events seen in the universe. This being the case, as they are dependent upon exterior components, they are not self-existent. Furthermore the universe is contingent.

As Gulen (2000) argues, two types of existence are reality: there are those things that exist necessarily and those existing on a conditional level. Those that exist incontrovertibly, exist only by a perquisite of their individual characteristics and attributes. Thus, nothing in it must exist, since it is not necessary for it to exist. Anything whose existence is conditional and contingent is not infinite. For that reason, life cannot be self-originated, because someone has to have preference over its non-existence or its possible existence. Anything that begins, will definitely end, so the idea of eternal creation is deemed to be false. Everything is dependent on something, so when tracing this chain as far back as possible, it is beyond reasonable to accept the fact that it is God who has no beginning and is the creator of all things. Taking these irrefutable arguments into deep contemplation and examination, it is logical and plausible to accept the fact that God is the only reasonable explanation for the origin of the universe and all of existence.

Through the thoughts and explanations of rational arguments regarding the proofs of God’s existence, it is evident that Muslim theologians have aspired to provide a sturdy and forceful structure to Islamic theology. After deep reflection, thought, and consideration surrounding the arguments that were provided by Muslim theologians, in this respect, it is clear that the evidence put forth unambiguously demonstrates that God exists and is the creator of all things. It is useful to ponder over analogies and to exercise scientific and rational reasoning as these scholars have put forward, so that we can have a better understanding of our existence.

Before the emergence of theories proposed by disbelievers, it was unnecessary to even engage in proving God’s existence. Obstacles like these theories are still being debated over, but via irrefutable analogies, scientific and rational reasoning, the existence of God is evident.

REFERENCES

• Clark, J. (2004). How Occam’s Razor Works. Retrieved from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm
• Ergi, O. 2013. Can a bridge build itself: essays on belief and moral values. [S.l.]: Ipg-Academic.
• Fakhry, M. (1957). The Classical Islamic Arguments for the Existence of God. The Muslim World, 47, 2.
• Ghazzālī, ., & Marmura, M. E. (1997). The incoherence of the philosophers =: Tahāfut al-falāsifah: a parallel English-Arabic text. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.
• Gülen, F. (2000). Essentials of the Islamic faith. Fairfax, Va: The Fountain.
• Gulen, F. (2001). Who created God?. Retrieved from: https://fgulen.com/en/fethullah-gulens-works/1363-questions-and-answers/24495-who-created-god
• Nasr, S. H. (1964). An introduction to Islamic cosmological doctrines: Conceptions of nature and methods used for its study by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ, al-Bīrūnī, and Ibn Sīnā. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
• Nursi, S., & Vahide, S.. (1993). The Words. Istanbul, Turkey: Sozler Publications.
• Nursi, S. (1995). The Flashes collection. Istanbul, Turkey: Sozler Nesriyat A.S.
• Nursi, S., & Vahide, S. (2001). Letters. Istanbul: Sozler Nesriyat.
• Ozalp, M. (2014). Lecture 2: Existence of God (World view and Faith Essentials). [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved January 8, 2015, from Charles Sturt University website. (Link no longer available)
• Ozalp, M. (2014). Lecture 4: Proof of God’s Existence. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/access/content/group/ISL202_201490_UC_D/Lectures/Lecture%204%20-%20Proofs%20of%20God_s%20Existence.pdf

The first steps to be taken on the way of truth are belief, righteous deeds and wakefulness. For this reason, lightning can be regarded as the first step of, not this journey, but rather the spiritual states (of sainthood) that one steps through during the journey.

The difference between lightning and ecstasy is that ecstasy emerges in the home of meeting with the All-Beloved, while lightning flashes when permission to enter the sanctuary of the All-Beloved to meet with Him is given. For this reason, ecstasy sends zeal into the heart, awakening in it a burning desire to meet the All-Beloved from among the lights of state, urging the petitioning of more and more of His gifts and to rise to higher ranks. As for lightning, it hits the eye like a dazzling light and reminds one that the door of the All-Beloved is ajar. For those who are to cross the threshold of sainthood, we recall the following couplet of Ibnu’l-Farid,  a couplet full of excitement:

Has a dazzling lightning flashed from the direction of Mount Sinai, Or have the veils over the face of Layla been opened part way? So it is that while living in the dark night of corporeality and bodily desires, Layla began to show herself step by step and to send the hope of union into the hearts, and in the end the nights changed into days in the hearts of those who had been burning for union with her.

Because it signifies permission to enter the way to union, lightning is considered as the start of the journey for the travelers on the way to the Ultimate Truth. At this setting out, God Almighty makes His servants, who are candidates for sainthood, aware of His offerings and Grandeur and of the servants’ own helplessness and poverty, enabling them to awaken to the love of God and to form a sincere relationship with Him, abandoning attachment however slight to transient, decaying, earth-bound things. These are the first gifts of God. In addition, like the favors offered to Moses on Mount Sinai, initiates need to feel some things and change their solitude into company (with the True, Eternal Friend) to better endure the difficulties of the journey and the loneliness. So lightning can be considered as the pleasure of feeling God’s friendliness, and a favor given to counter the difficulties that a traveler is bound to face during the journey.

Lightning has another face, by which an initiate is reminded of God’s omnipresence and given the signal of self-possession. Initiates are warned that entering the Realm of the Holy Presence requires self-possession. Fear and alarm are aroused in their inner world by this warning. So, with its two aspects—one bringing deep pleasure and desire, the other causing fear and alarm—lightning serves to prevent the traveler both from falling into despair and from uttering words of pride incompatible with the rules of the Shari‘a.

The gifts coming on the wavelength of lightning are the Lord’s favors to the traveler; they are provision for the journey. These favors are the means of innocent delight for the traveler, because of Him Who sent them, and as a result of the recognition of poverty on the part of the one receiving. The traveler acknowledges this favor, as indicated in the verse (10:58), Say: “In the grace and bounty of God and in His mercy—in this, then, let them rejoice.” Reflecting on the Divine favors received, the person confesses that everything is from Him and proclaims: “All praise be to Him,” expressing the feeling of unworthiness for such favors, as Gedai did: That which I have—I am not worthy of it; this favor and grace—why are they bestowed on me?

Thereupon the traveler journeying to God bows in humility and thankfulness. The saying of the pride of humankind, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, I am the master of the children of Adam, yet I am not proud at all,33 is the crystal in which this reality is reflected, from whichever side it is looked at.

O God! I ask You for good in its entirety, with all its beginning and end and with its visible and invisible, and high ranks in Paradise. And bestow blessings and peace on the Prophet, the intercessor whose intercession is acceptable to God, and on his family and Companions, those of great merit and loyalty.

What many Jews and Muslims do not realize is that they share many similar religious beliefs. I believe that if more people were taught about the many connections between Judaism and Islam, they would see them as a bridge toward greater interfaith understanding.

Shared belief in one God

One of the most fundamental ways in which Judaism and Islam are similar is their firm monotheistic belief in one God. Jews recite the following verse from Deuteronomy 6:4 as part of their daily prayers:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”[1]

This is probably the best-known declaration of faith in all of Judaism, because it establishes absolute monotheismand belief in the absolute unity of God. The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides affirmed that “God is one. He is not two or more, but one, unified in a manner that surpasses any unity that is found in the world.”[2]

This is certainly similar to Shahada, the first pillar of Islam, in which Muslims state that “there is no god but Allah,” as well as the declaration in the Qur’an, 112:1, which states, “Say: ‘He – (He is) God, (Who is) the Unique One of Absolute Oneness.”[3]

Both Judaism and Islam teach that it is God who created the universe. The Hebrew Bible opens with this statement in the book of Genesis:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

So too does the Qur’an 7:54 state:

“Indeed your Lord is God, Who has created the heavens and the earth in six days.”

Both religions affirm that it is God who creates and forms human beings. The Hebrew Bible states in Genesis 2:7, that “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth.” A parallel verse is found in the Qur’an 40:67: “He it is Who created you from earth.”

Shared reverence for the Hebrew Bible and Biblical prophecy

Traditional Judaism is based on the belief that the Hebrew Bible is the sacred word of God. Within the Bible, the Torah is considered the most sacred, because according to Rabbinic tradition, Moses received not only the Ten Commandments from God at Mount Sinai, but also the entire Torah. The Torah’s commandments, teachings, and theological beliefs form the core of what Jews believe and how they are to behave.

The Qur’an sees the transmission of the divine word as a process that encompasses both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. 3:3-4 confirms that “He sends down on you the Book in parts with the truth, confirming (the Divine origin of, and the truths still contained by) the Revelations prior to it. And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel in time past, as guidance for the people.”

While Islam views the Qur’an as the culmination of divine revelation, it accepts the divine origin of both the Torah and the Gospels.

The tradition of prophets, who received messages from God and transmitted them to the community, is very ancient in Judaism. Moses stands out as a prophet, because he was able to receive prophetic messages “face to face” with God (Deuteronomy 34:10). Islam also reveres prophets. The Biblical prophets of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are accepted by Islam as authentic, with Muhammad as the pinnacle of prophetic activity:

“We have believed in God (without associating any partners with Him), and that which has been sent down to us, and that which has been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets who were raised in the tribes, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and that (knowledge, wisdom, and Prophethood) which was given to all other Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them” (Qur’an 2:136).

Shared belief in the Afterlife, Final Judgment, and Resurrection

Both Judaism and Islam share a belief in an afterlife – that as human beings we are created with both a body and a soul, and that after death our soul continues. The ancient Rabbis stated in Talmud Shabbat 152b, “After death, the souls of the righteous are kept beside the Throne of Glory in heaven.” Concerning the soul, the Qur’an 89:27-30 states, “O you soul at rest (content with the truths of faith and God’s commands, and with His treatment of His creatures!) Return to your Lord, well-pleased (with Him and His treatment of you, and well-pleasing to Him.”

Both Judaism and Islam also believe that human souls will experience a Final Judgment at the end of time, when all the righteous will receive their ultimate reward and the wicked their ultimate punishment. For both Judaism and Islam, the righteous will be resurrected after death, with their bodies and souls reunited forever, and will enjoy eternity in a heavenly realm. The prophet Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible describes resurrection in dramatic, poetic terms:

“Thus the Lord God said to the dry bones: ‘I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again. I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again.’”

So too does the Qur’an 39:67, 73-74 describe resurrection in uplifting terms:

“The whole earth will be in His Grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand… Those who keep from disobedience to their Lord in reverence for Him and piety will be led to Paradise in companies. When they finally arrive there, its doors will be opened (as sheer grace from God), and its keepers will welcome them saying: ‘Peace be upon you! Well you have faired and are purified (from the foul residues of sin, and delivered from all suffering), so enter it (Paradise) to abide!’ And they say: ‘All praise and gratitude are for God, Who has fulfilled His promise to us, and has made us inheritors of this land (of bliss).’ ”

The centrality of prayer and ritual

Both Jews and Muslims are required to pray daily, and daily prayer is the second pillar of Islam. For Jews, there are three daily prayer services, and for Muslims, five. These consistent times of prayer are meant to remind us of God’s continuous presence in the world and to give us opportunities to give praise and thanks to God.

Both traditions also have times of fasting, during which neither food nor water is permitted. Jews fast on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), when we confess and atone for our sins, resolve to turn from evil, and ask for God’s forgiveness. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan, which is the fourth pillar of Islam. Like Judaism, the Qur’an 2:183 states that fasting during Ramadan is “so that you may deserve God’s protection (against the temptations of your carnal soul) and attain piety.”

Both Judaism and Islam affirm the spiritual value of religious pilgrimage. For Jews, there are three pilgrimage festivals each year (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot) that are ideally observed in Israel, and many Jews make the effort to be in Israel for these sacred times. Similarly, the pilgrimage to Mecca, the fifth pillar of Islam, is a supremely important religious observance.

Jews and Muslims are also required to observe dietary laws. They share the prohibition against eating pork. These restrictions cause us to think about God every time we eat, provide us with a daily discipline of paying attention to what we put in our mouths, and cause us to see eating as a sanctified ritual, rather than mindlessly consuming whatever food is readily available.

Shared values

One of the most cherished values in Judaism is that of tzedakah, which involves acts of charity to those in need. Leviticus 19:9-10 teaches us, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.”

Similarly, the third pillar of Islam is Zakat, the duty of Muslims to give charity to the poor and needy. The Qur’an 2:177 praises the person who “gives away of his property with pleasure, although he loves it, to relatives, orphans, the destitute, the wayfarer, and those who have to beg (or who need a loan).”

Both religions have a very high regard for the value of humility. The Hebrew Bible notes that humility is the outstanding trait of Moses:

“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

The same is found in the Qur’an 25:63:

“The (true) servants of the All-Merciful are they who move on the earth gently and humbly.”

Lastly, both traditions emphasize the power of forgiveness. In the Hebrew Bible, Exodus 34:6-7 lists God’s qualities of forgiveness:

“A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.”

Islam also emphasizes the qualities of Allah as “the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” in the Basmala. We are all imperfect human beings who rely on God’s boundless mercy to forgive us when we sin and help us to repent for our wrongs.

Judaism and Islam also expect believers to be forgiving of each other, just as God is forgiving of us. The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides emphasized that we are required to forgive those who have harmed us:

“It is forbidden for a person to be cruel and refuse to be appeased. Rather, he should be easily pacified, but hard to anger. When a person who wronged him asks for forgiveness, he should forgive him with a complete heart and a willing spirit. Even if he aggravated and wronged him severely, he should not seek revenge or bear a grudge.”[4]

The ideal of the forgiving person is described in the Qur’an 3:134 as the kind of person who is “ever-restraining their rage (even when provoked and able to retaliate), and pardoning people (their offenses). God loves (such) people who are devoted to doing good.”

A bridge to interfaith understanding

These are just a few examples of the many ways in which Judaism and Islam share common beliefs and values. In today’s fractured world, it is vital that Jews and Muslims understand what they have in common and reach out to each other in friendship and support. We need to repair the gaping hole where ignorance currently resides. Knowledge of each other is the only way to prevent future religious bigotry and violence, and to replace hatred with love.

An unexpected increase in flora, which is normally necessary for a healthy life, can pave the way for diseases. There are, on average, 200 grams of bacteria on an adult’s skin, 20 grams in the mouth, and 20 grams in the lungs. The gastrointestinal tract contains a dramatic amount of flora – 1.5 kg of bacteria – this equals 100 trillion organisms. This flora covers the intestinal mucosa, which is an area of approximately 300 m2. This functions as a protective layer, and is of vital significance.

Since some 90% of the microorganisms inside us are dependent on the human body to survive, their relationship with us is symbiotic. Most of this flora improves our immune system. Our body tolerates the beneficial bacteria in the flora, and it fights against the harmful organisms.

Much of our flora develops before we’re born. Since a baby is sterile prior to birth, it receives some 100 types of microorganisms from the birth tract and environment, which start building the body’s flora. Factors such as the type of delivery (natural or caesarian), the mother’s age, the baby’s health, the type of nutrition (mother’s milk and baby food), and the mother’s food intake play a determining role in the types and amount of the microorganisms that make up the flora. Babies born in the natural way have a stronger immunity than those born through caesarian sections, thanks to the flora they gain from their mother.

While nearly 700 types of microorganisms inhabit the body of a 6 month old baby, a person has a fully developed system of flora at 3 years of age.

Flora in the digestive track

The digestive track is where food and nutrients are refined for our body’s benefit. Our GI tract is about 250-400 meters in area, comparable to a tennis court. It has the second largest surface area in the body. About 60 tons of food pass through a person’s digestive track over his or her lifetime.

The part that contains the most diverse microorganisms is the mouth. Conversely, the floral density of the esophagus is low. Microorganisms that come by means of saliva and foods are found here. As the interior of the stomach is highly acidic (pH: 2), the number of microorganisms in the stomach is quite low (10thousand/per ml).

Considering the amounts of bacteria in an average adult body, one milliliter of the duodenum has ten thousand bacteria; the beginning of the small intestine has a hundred thousand, its ending has a hundred million, and the colon has about a hundred billion to a trillion microorganisms. The intestines of healthy individuals have nearly 500 different bacteria species.  The fact that trillions of organisms are found in the human body may sound a bit frightening, but 98% of them are beneficial.

The forgotten organ

The intestinal flora, which is indispensable for a healthy life and is specific to every person, is also referred to as “the forgotten organ,” since its metabolic activity is rather high.

Substances such as amino acids, vitamins, and antioxidants, found in the content reaching the large intestine, are metabolized by the intestinal flora and thus the needs of intestinal cells are met. These bacteria have the duty to stimulate cell division and prevent the reproduction of harmful bacteria, toxic substances’ passing from the guts to the bloodstream, and the emergence of skin diseases. Most of the time, we are not even aware of the presence of these marvelous helpers.

The intestinal flora stimulates the lymph tissues around it and triggers an antidote against germs. The fact that the lymphoid structure did not develop in experimental animals bred in a bacteria-free environment indicates how crucial microorganisms are for the immune system.

The spoiling of the intestinal flora can cause problems like diarrhea, constipation, gas, allergies, infection, high cholesterol, headaches, and fatigue. The toxins of the disease-causing germs damage the intestinal membrane and increase its permeability. Thus, toxins join the bloodstream and they might reach as far as the brain. These toxins can influence brain functions, and lead to problems with sight and balance, fatigue, and amnesia, as well as leading to sleep disturbances, and pains in the muscles and joints. These toxins also hinder the absorption of nutrients and can cause malnutrition.

In order to keep the intestinal flora balanced, it is necessary to keep away from antibiotics, carbonated beverages, refined food, and alcohol.  Eating various kinds of food during the same meal may cause difficulty for the digestive system and the flora. Fruits eaten at night burden the digestive system, causing irregularity in the flora and the formation of gas. For this reason, it is wiser to eat fruit half an hour before, or two hours after, a meal.

Our probiotic friends

Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that balance the intestinal flora. Probiotic products are foods with added beneficial microorganisms. As the microorganisms in normal flora turn carbohydrates into the suitable form to be used by the body, they are known as friendly bacteria. These microorganisms, which form 95% of the flora in little infants, synthesize certain vitamins, and protect the baby against some diseases.

Fermented foods, such as yogurt, cheese, kefir, olives, vinegar, naturally fermented pickles, and sourdough bread, enrich the intestinal flora. However, increasing foods’ shelf life with methods as UHT or pasteurization can negatively affect the intestinal flora.

Probiotic bacteria are resistant to stomach acid, bile salt, and lysozyme. They produce antimicrobial substances such as lactic acid, acetic acid, and bacteriocin to prevent the proliferation of undesirable microorganisms in the intestine. In addition, they form a protective layer on the intestinal walls against toxic substances.

Antibiotics, alcohol, junk food, stress, a poor diet, and intestinal surgeries can all lessen the amount of probiotic bacteria in the gut.

Today, probiotic capsules with differing benefits are on the market. A diet rich in natural foods such as vegetables, fruits, meat, and eggs, along with probiotic foods such as yogurt, are good for the intestinal flora. It is thought that some diseases which cannot be treated could perhaps be cured with probiotics.

The intestines and our health

During the development of the embryo, some of the same groups of cells are used for forming the brain and the digestive system. These structures are in constant communication with the vagus nerve.

There are 100 million nerve cells in the structure of the intestines. After the brain, the intestines have the highest amount of nerve cells in the body. As such, the digestive tract plays a big role in determining a person’s mood. The toxins it secretes can cause a person to feel bad. This is why some scientists humorously say that we have a second brain in our belly. Some states of worry, excitement, and emotional intensity have corresponding gut pains. There is more of the hormone serotonin, which balances a person’s mood, in the intestines than in the brain. When there is a pain in the body, benzodiazepine – a pain-alleviating substance used in anti-depressants – is produced by the intestines. This is why the intestines work faster in times of pain.

Some of the different bacteria in the intestines need sugary nutrients and others need oily nutrients. In order to obtain these nutrients, bacteria send signals to the secretive glands and nervous system, and make the person feel like consuming certain foods.

A person needs healthy intestines to lead a healthy life – they need balanced flora for healthy intestines. New food technologies in the last century, changes in dietary habits, chemical pollutants, antibiotics used in agriculture, and other chemical substances in food and beverages, have all upset the balance of the digestive track’s flora. This imbalance is causing an increase of related diseases. In order to reduce these diseases, our body needs more of its old, friendly bacteria.

References

• Berg RD. The indigenous gastrointestinal microflora. TrendsMicrobiol 1996; 4:430-435.
• de Vrese M, Schrezenmeir J. Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics. AdvBiochemEngBiotechnol. 2008;1111:1-66.
• Macfarlane GT andCummings JH: Probiotics and prebiotics: can regulating the activities of intestinal bacteria benefit health? BrMed J. 318:999-1003,1999
• O’Sullivan GC, Kelly P, O’Halloran S. Probiotics: an emerging therapy. Curr Pharm Des 2005; 11: 3-10.
• Penner R, Fedorak RN, Madsen KL. Probiotics and nutreceuticals: non-medicinal treatments of gastrointestinal diseases. Curr Opin Pharmacol 2005; 5: 1-8.
• Sathyabama S, Khan N, Agrewala JN. Friendly pathogens; preventor provoke autoimmunity. CritRevMicrobiol. 2014;40:273-80.
• Tannock GW. Can the gut microflora of infants be modified by giving probiotics to mothers? J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2004; 38: 244-246.

I think we are all searching for something in our lives. No one seems to know exactly what that something is, but we all are seeking what is greater than ourselves. I think that is how I would define life—a constant pursuit of that which is beyond us. We as humans are eternally stretching out our hands towards the horizon, constantly reaching for what is impossible. This aspect of human nature has propelled us to amazing heights, but even as we are redefining what is possible, we are pushing people behind us in our inexhaustible quest for something indefinable.

The world is constantly changing, developing into new iterations of past versions. In the past few hundred years, though life has changed immensely, some has regrettably remained the same. Revolutions in agriculture, industry, and technology have shaped the world and shifted the very nature of life. The world of today would be unrecognizable to people even ten or fifteen years ago. Though humanity as a whole has advanced much, as always, some people have been left behind. Many people do not have access to any of the amenities that I, as a United States citizen, often take for granted. Running water, electricity, and Internet access are things that others only dream of.  Some people do not even take for granted that they will live to see the next day. Things and situations these people have no control over constantly limit them. I can only hope that the next big revolution in our world will be a revolution in what the daily life of the average person entails.

I cannot imagine what the world will be like in one year, much less by the time I am 100. The future is unfathomable: it is constantly evolving, and the smallest action can trigger enormous changes. I suppose I am writing this letter to myself as a way of opening a window to the future. There is so much I want to know, so much that could help me shape the future. There is so much that will change between now and when I am 100; between 2016 and 2098. In 2098, the world will be on the verge of a precipice, approaching a new century. New ideas and inventions I cannot begin to imagine will be commonplace. Everything possible now will seem insignificant to what is possible in 2098. The way I live my life now will seem antiquated. My generation will have handed over control of the world to the generations after us. It is my hope that my generation will be remembered for what good we did while we still controlled what happened to the world.

All people have an innate desire to be unique: to be the smartest or the prettiest or the best. We all like to believe we are special and that we matter to the world simply because of the fact that we exist. In a sense, I think that this is true. We are all inarguably different. Each of us has specific gifts and talents that make us distinctly ourselves. Yet, unfortunately, whether we matter is not fully dependent on our existence. It is dependent on what we do with that existence.

What do I want to do with my existence? I strive to be more than myself, more than just a voiceless, insignificant teenage girl. At 18, I have already grown tired of labels and judgments. I have grown tired of people subtly telling me who I should be in the same instant as they innocently ask who I want to be. I have grown tired of being confined by expectations. I have grown tired of being silenced. I want to break free from that which limits me. I want to extend beyond what—and who— I am supposed to be.

I want to change the world.  No, I am not one of those naïve, idealistic girls who believes that I matter in the grand scheme of things. I acknowledge my insignificance. I do not believe that I will be the one who cures cancer or creates world peace or becomes the first woman President. I will, however, do my best to change what I can. Whether I will impact millions of people or just a few is left up to the fates. I merely wish to change my personalworld, my tiny corner of reality. I am determined to leave a mark on my world, as clichéd as that sounds.

I cannot imagine what I will be like in the future. So much will have happened by then. What will I have experienced? Who will I have met? Where will I have traveled? There are so many possible endings to my story that I cannot even begin to guess what will happen to me. I barely have an idea of what story has begun, much less what will impact its plotline. Hopefully, at the end of it all, I will have no regrets. Hopefully by then I will have discovered what I was born to do. For now, as François Rabelais once said, “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”

Best Regards,

The Elizabeth of Times Present and Past

Dearest Elizabeth,

It seems so ironic that memories are so fragile and fleeting, yet they are so integral in defining who we are as humans. The person I was in 2016—the person you are right now—has transformed slowly into who I am now without me realizing that anything was changing. I have been shaped by what has happened to me, shaped by the memories that make up my life. There is so much advice I could impart to you to change what happened in your life, but this would change who you are—who I am. All of the decisions you make and all of the memories you gain will lead up to a final moment one day, a moment I am rapidly approaching now. In that moment, you will have to decide for yourself if you are happy with who you are and who you have been. You will have to determine on your own if your actions were right.  I will not give any specifics about what has happened in your life or what has happened to the world, though I know how much you would like to know. Additionally, if you are looking for a guide to who you should be, you will not be receiving one. The point of life is to discover the point of life.

However, I will impart some wisdom to you that I have learned throughout my life. First of all, only you have the ability to change your life. You are the only one in control of your actions. Though it may seem like the world is conspiring against you to confine you, there is always a choice. You need only to look.

Second, make sure to remember what is truly important. Objects are merely temporary; people can be in your life forever, if you so choose. It is your actions that will determine if the people in your life remain there. Do not forget who has helped you become who you are. Do not forget those beside you in your attempts to help everyone else. Also, remember that what seems to be the most important in your life today may not be the most important tomorrow or the day after that. As you grow, your mind will continue to change what is important in your life. Pay attention to these changes, and readjust your priorities based on them.

Third, recognize the passage of time. A timespan that seems to you like forever will soon become your past. Do not let time go to waste. There are so many things I know you want to accomplish in your life. It seems like you have a lifetime ahead of you to actually do these things, and in a very real sense you do have a lifetime. Trust me, though: a lifetime is not as long as it seems to be. One day you will be 100. One day you will reflect on your life and wonder if you could have fulfilled any more of your dreams. Today is the day you will look back on your life. Today is the day I look back on my life. Try to make sure you have done all you can with what opportunities you were given.

Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind the nature of change. It is so easy to form one image in your mind of what needs to be changed. It will seem like you have an enemy to face, one thing to conquer so that all will turn out well. If you imagine millions of so-called enemies, the world would still be more complicated than that. Change will not be as simple as “winning”. It will be complicated. It will be difficult. It will have unforeseen consequences. You will not be rewarded for it. Often, people will hate you for it. But change is necessary in order for life to continue and advance. Remember that. If you wish to change anything, this is the one thing you need to remember.

You wondered what impact your generation would have on the world. You wondered what impact you personally would have on the world. It is only natural that you wonder these things. Indeed, your generation is one that will profoundly impact the world. Even as the world of 2098 is approaching a tipping point, so too is the world of 2016. Tensions are rising, and problems are increasing. Individual powers are being taken away, even as other individual powers are growing. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. The world seemingly contradicts itself in all aspects. The world is at a crosshairs. It is your generation that will decide what happens next.

A great war is coming in your lifetime. It is you and others like you who will decide what kind of war this is. Will it be a war against ourselves or will it be a war against what limits us all?

With Love,

The Once and Future Elizabeth

Computers have been compared to human brains in many ways. Computers are extremely fast processing devices, and we generally think they can do things faster than we can, since they perform very complex computations in less than a few microseconds. The fastest supercomputer today is called Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, with a performance of 33.86 petaflop/s (quadrillions of calculations per second) [2].

Although this is almost incomprehensibly fast, current computer technology does not completely imitate the operations of the human brain. In fact, for a computer to approach the processing speed and skill of the brain, it would have to be very bulky, expensive, and power-inefficient. For example, in order to reach its incredible processing speed, Tianhe-2 needs to use 3,120,000 processor cores at the same time, occupying a space of 720 square meters (the equivalent of 10 midsize apartments), and spending 17.8 megawatts of power (enough to power 6,000 homes at the same time). The system has 1.4 million gigabytes of memory and 12.4 million gigabytes of storage. It was developed by a team of 1,300 scientists and engineers, at a total cost of 2.4 billion Yuan (390 Million US Dollars) [3].    

The human brain packs phenomenal computing power into a tiny space (0.01 square meter) and uses only 20 watts of energy (barely enough to run a dim light bulb) [4]. You could pack 72,000 human brains into Tianhe-2, and the supercomputer consumes power equivalent to 890,000 brains. So, one would expect it to be much powerful than our tiny brains. But is it?

Just imagine, for one second, if a supercomputer mimicked the human brain. In Japan, researchers used another supercomputer, named “K,” to simulate human brain activity – for one second [5]. K is currently the fourth most powerful computer in the world, with 705,024 processor cores and 1.4 million gigabytes of memory.

It used the open-source Neural Simulation Technology (NEST) tool to replicate a network consisting of 1.73 billion nerve cells connected by 10.4 trillion synapses [6]. While significant in size, the simulated network represented only 1% of the neuronal network in the human brain.

It took 40 minutes of computing time for this supercomputer to process and simulate the data for just one second of human brain’s 1% activity. Currently there is no computer in existence powerful enough to simulate the whole brain at the level of the individual nerve cell and its synapses [7].

This is because the average human brain consists of about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) that are linked together by trillions of connections called synapses. As the tiny electrical impulses shoot across each neuron, they have to travel through these synapses, each of which contains about 1000 different switches which route that electrical impulse. In total, one human brain could contain hundreds of trillions of these neural pathways. Each neuron is able to contact any other neuron with no more than six inter-neuronal connections — six degrees of separation. [8]

The human brain is also the cheapest and most compact storage unit you can get. Considering there are around 100 billion cells in the human brain, and that each cell’s DNA can store 1.5 gigabytes of data, the approximate amount of data the brain’s DNA can store is 150 trillion gigabytes (the equivalent of 30 trillion DVDs worth of space) [9].

These unique capabilities of the human brain in terms of computation and data storage continue to inspire the next generation of supercomputer designers. Inspired by the fascinating architecture of the brain, scientists have recently developed a new kind of computer chip that uses no more power than a hearing aid and may eventually excel at calculations that perplex today’s supercomputers [10]. It tries to mimic the way brains recognize patterns, relying on densely interconnected webs of transistors similar to the brain’s neural networks.

The new brain-inspired chip’s electronic neurons are able to signal others when the amount of sensed light passes a certain threshold. Working in parallel, the neurons begin to organize the data into patterns suggesting the light is growing brighter, or changing color or shape. The chip contains 5.4 billion transistors, yet draws just 70 milliwatts of power. By contrast, modern Intel processors in today’s personal computers and data centers may have 1.4 billion transistors and consume far more power — 35 to 140 watts [11]. This is approximately 2000 times more power than the proposed new chip will use. This chip has one million neurons, making it about as complex as the brain of a bee.

Following another recent study, IBM has unveiled a prototype of another brain-inspired computer, which is powered by what is called “electronic blood.” Inspired by the space- and energy efficiency of the brain, IBM developed a “redox flow” system which pumps an electrolyte “blood” through a computer, carrying power in and taking heat out [12].

Their vision is that a petaflop supercomputer that would normally fill half a football field today, will be able to fit on your desktop by the year 2060. Using traditional approaches, this is impossible. If you were going to build a petaflop supercomputer by simply increasing the number of CPUs, you would need an area of 13,000 square meters, nearly two football fields, to host such a computer; and you would require 320 megawatts of electricity to power it, which is equivalent to a medium-sized city‘s electrical consumption.

If we want to fit a supercomputer inside a sugar cube in the near future, we will need a major paradigm shift in today’s electronics technology. To achieve this shift, we need to be motivated by our astonishing brain. As mentioned above, the human brain is tens of thousands of times more dense and efficient than any computer produced with the latest technology. That’s possible because it uses only one extremely efficient network of capillaries and blood vessels to transport heat and energy, all at the same time [13].

According to the scientists working in this area, the future generation of supercomputers can be more efficient in terms of storage space, energy consumption, and performance if they are inspired by our brains. Although engineering computers that can reach and exceed the complexity of the brain still remain a dream for scientists, our miraculous brain continues to inspire them as they pursue new technological discoveries.

What would you trust to remember critical information – your brain, or your computer? If you said your computer, you would be wrong. Even the strongest computers in the world cannot match the human brain’s complexity, memory, and processing speed. The human brain is the world’s greatest computer.

References

[1] Caine, Renate Nummela, and Geoffrey Caine. “Making connections: Teaching and the human brain.” Educational Resource Information Center (1991).

[2] Gholkar, Neha, Frank Mueller, and Barry Rountree. “A Power-aware Cost Model for HPC Procurement.” In the Proceeding of the Twelfth Workshop on High-Performance, Power-Aware Computing (HPPAC’16), Chicago, IL, May 2016.

[3] Zhendong, Pu. “China bytes back with fastest computer”. China Daily (2013).

[4] Versace, Massimiliano, and Ben Chandler. “The brain of a new machine.” IEEE spectrum 47, no. 12 (2010): 30-37.
[5] Helias, Moritz, Susanne Kunkel, Gen Masumoto, Jun Igarashi, Jochen Martin Eppler, Shin Ishii, Tomoki Fukai, Abigail Morrison, and Markus Diesmann. “Supercomputers ready for use as discovery machines for neuroscience.” Front Neuroinform 6, no. 26 (2012): 2.

[6] Diesmann, Markus, and Marc-Oliver Gewaltig. “NEST: An environment for neural systems simulations.” Forschung und wisschenschaftliches Rechnen, Beiträge zum Heinz-Billing-Preis 58 (2001): 43-70.

[7] Moravec, Hans. “When will computer hardware match the human brain.” Journal of evolution and technology 1, no. 1 (1998): 10.

[8] Drachman, David A. “Do we have brain to spare?.” Neurology 64, no. 12 (2005): 2004-2005.

[9] Goldman, Nick, Paul Bertone, Siyuan Chen, Christophe Dessimoz, Emily M. LeProust, Botond Sipos, and Ewan Birney. “Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA.” Nature 494, no. 7435 (2013): 77-80.

[10] Hsu, John. “IBM’s new brain [News].” Spectrum, IEEE 51, no. 10 (2014): 17-19.

[11] Damaraju, Satish, Varghese George, Sanjeev Jahagirdar, Tanveer Khondker, Robert Milstrey, Sanjib Sarkar, Scott Siers, Israel Stolero, and Arun Subbiah. “A 22nm ia multi-cpu and gpu system-on-chip.” In Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers (ISSCC), 2012 IEEE International, pp. 56-57. IEEE, 2012.

[12] Ruch, Patrick, Thomas Brunschwiler, Stephan Paredes, Ingmar Meijer, and Bruno Michel. “Roadmap towards ultimately-efficient zeta-scale datacenters.” In Proceedings of the Conference on Design, Automation and Test in Europe, pp. 1339-1344. EDA Consortium, 2013.

[13] Garimella, Suresh V., Tim Persoons, Justin Weibel, and Lian-Tuu Yeh. “Technological drivers in data centers and telecom systems: Multiscale thermal, electrical, and energy management.” Applied Energy 107 (2013): 66-80.