What if somebody came up to you and said the words, “you can’t do it?” What if somebody came up to you and pushed you down, kicked you, forced you to stop moving forward, and forced you to stop trying? What if this same person knocked you down time and again, reminding you that you are a failure, and that you can never do anything with your life? What if this person told you that you’ll never make it over this next obstacle, or that you can never climb that mountain, or that you can never cross that canyon? Well, look up, because that person is you.

Here you are. The mountain is large, and looms over you with such height and width that you start to second guess yourself. You stand at the base of it and simply stare. The snow hits you in the face, and you can feel the trembling cold that seeps in through your coat and gloves. Maybe you should turn back? Maybe you weren’t ready for this. You look at the top, and realize with a start that you can’t even see it. Clouds surround it so thickly, to the point that you aren’t sure if the top even exists. The doubts start flying in, and you have no choice but to listen to them. And, the more you listen, the more you start to believe them. Giving up, at this moment, seems like the best option in the world. The mountain seems too big anyway. Who even knows whether you’d be able to make it all the way to the top or not?

The problem with facing a disaster is not the obstacle, but our mindset. It’s easy to say, “I’ll cross the valley,” but harder to back up words with actions. It’s easy to say to a mountain, “get up, and move” without having the belief that it will. Soon, as we move through life, we understand that the obstacles and disasters are nothing compared to the problems that you pose to ourselves. It is us; it always was us. We continue to be our biggest obstacle. We are the disaster in our own lives. If we can face ourselves, our doubts and fears, then we can surely face any other thing with ease.

“I can’t get through it.” If you keep telling yourself that, you’ll soon believe it. Our perspective is severely flawed. When we look up and see an obstacle or hardship, that’s all we can see. We are unable, incapable, of looking beyond the negativity. It surrounds us, haunts us, and pushes us down, to the point where we believe we cannot ever stand again. We don’t see the reality of our situation: we are the ones holding ourselves back. What we see before us, that disaster we are so afraid to face, is only a single dot in the ever expanding timeline of our lives. Sure, that disaster may look big now, but soon, we will forget we have ever faced it. The important thing to remember is this; that not everything lasts forever. Our eyes have been deceived; they make the obstacles of our lives look bigger than they really are. So, let’s put the blinders on and go out there, face our fears, face ourselves, face the obstacle, and win.

So okay: you’ve managed to convince yourself to attempt and climb this huge, snowy mountain. You’ve begun to trudge up its side, your feet following the ridges so that your boots have something to grip. It’s harder than you imagined it would be: your fingers are already numb, you can barely see the hand in front of your face, and the cold has managed to find a way underneath all of your protective layers. You’ve already lost one bag of supplies, after an accident when you took to a ridge too steep and put the bag down for a moment to catch your breath. Now, it’s just you, a smaller sack, and your ever-weary determination. You hadn’t thought it’d be this difficult, and you start to make promises to yourself that you aren’t sure you can keep. “Oh, I think I should turn around and try another time,” or “I’ll get more supplies and training and come back in a few years.” You pause your climb and start to wonder if turning back is perhaps that is the best course of action at the moment. Besides, it’s too cold, you’ve already lost one bag, and a huge tiredness is suddenly overcoming you. Maybe next time.

Don’t make excuses. Another problem we face is the fact that we often try and get out of facing a certain obstacle. “It’s too hard,” or “I’ll never win,” or “I’ll face it some other time.” Something we must understand is that, when we procrastinate like this, we have already lost. We have given control over to the disaster and are content to sit there and let it attack us on every side. We’ve given up, became soft and lazy. Since when did we become content with doing nothing? Since when are we comfortable with throwing up our white flag every time we meet something we don’t want to face? Get up! This is not a walk in the park! These are our lives, and this is our time. We’ve been given an opportunity to face a disaster other people have been fighting for years. We need to take it into our own hands and believe in ourselves. Enough with the “do it later”’s and “not for me”’s. It’s time to climb harder than we ever have before. Strive to make it. Believe we can make it. Will ourselves to make it.

Without warning, you’ve run into another problem. You settle down on a flat part of ground to make camp for the night. Then you hear a menacing and intimidating growl from behind you. You quickly turn and come face to face with narrowed feline eyes. A giant snow leopard has followed you and, judging by its demeanor, it doesn’t look friendly. You can feel yourself starting to tremble, and your mind goes blank. You hadn’t expected this kind of threat at all, and with your unpreparedness, you are sure to die if you don’t act quickly. How do you act when faced with such an unexpected disaster as this?

In school, we are taught a number of things. We are taught to work with equations, to memorize dates, to know the steps of a number of different processes. We are expected to test on the curriculum, and to learn, memorize, and be familiar with the assigned material. But, I can promise you this: nothing taught in school can ever prepare you for the obstacles ahead. In math class, we are taught to solve for x, yet never taught how to solve our own problems, just somebody else’s. The truth is that you can never be truly prepared for a disaster. There is no textbook to read, no line to memorize, no equation to plug in. There is no single way to solve the problem. And that scares us. We face our obstacles, trying to solve them in the ways that we have been taught all our lives, but we can’t. We have to learn that sometimes, there is no answer. We can’t always solve the problem. What we can do, however, is to get through it. Face it, and then move on. We won’t ever be prepared for the disasters that are coming our way, but we don’t need to be. Everything we ever needed will not be taught to us in a classroom, or from a book, or even from this essay. Everything we will need is inside us, so use it.

I’ve got good news: You’ve fended off the snow leopard. Out of desperation, you took your last remaining bag, containing the rest of your food supplies, and threw it far away from you. Without hesitation, you ran in the opposite direction, abandoning your temporary campsite and every other thing you brought on this adventure. You are now alone, cold, on a mountain, with no supplies or rations of any kind. While escaping, the snow leopard managed to cut you. The blood has soaked through your bandage, and it drips to the ground below you. It stings like crazy. You finally have processed the predicament that you find yourself in, and conclude that there is no way to turn this into a positive. You tried, you failed, and now you will pay the penalty for it. You can’t help it: you press your cold face into your even colder gloves, and cry. Defeat has overtaken you, and you can think of nothing else except to sit and wait, hoping for a rescue of some kind, or, if not that, some kind of relief. Regardless, you’ve lost. It’s all over now, and the snow has turned red.

 Failure. It is the one thing that every person in the world can say they’ve experienced. But we mislabel what our failure really is. We view our loses as a bad thing. We mess up, we make mistakes, we don’t always make it. Anything that goes awry is a failure. We fear it. We always talk about how much we fail, how we just couldn’t do it. We fail to recognize our true error. Our failure is not messing up. Our failure is giving up. When we fail to try, when we get the notion in our head that we can’t do something, or that we can never get out of the situation we are in, these are the true failures. The belief that something cannot be done is the only mistake we could ever make. The disasters in our lives make it seem as though the impossible cannot be done. But this is not the time to give up. Don’t you dare quit. This is where you are your strongest. It’s not over until you allow it to be over. Stand up. Remember why you set out to conquer this disaster or obstacle in the first place. Find your motivation. You want to get over this mountain? Great, now tell me why. What is your why? Why bother setting out in the first place? You have gotten so far, that the only failure you could possibly have is giving up now. But you are not a failure. You can succeed. The final piece of advice I can give you is this: find your why. Once you can answer this question, you have already faced half the battle. Your motivation is your sword, so use it. Fear isn’t your biggest obstacle; it’s your lack of why, which becomes a lack of motivation. So find it and continue forward.

The snow is white now. The bleeding has stopped, as has your crying. You’ve managed to continue forward. Step after step brings you deeper and deeper into the unknown. You’ve fallen into a rhythm now. Step, step, step, pause. Step, step, step, pause. Step, step … an irregularity. You find you cannot go any further. You quickly lift your head up and your eyes are met with the sight you only believed you could achieve. The most wonderful scene is before you, and as you look around, you realize you know exactly where you are. The clouds have cleared, the snow is white, and you have made it. The top does exist after all. Your faith has become sight. Enjoy the view, for you have earned it. It is yours. You have conquered, you have overcome, you have won.

We tend to overlook our skin, but it performs many vital functions for our bodies – including coming to our rescue in emergencies.

Since it is designed to function within very precise limits, our body is very susceptible to small temperature changes. Since abnormalities in these changes occur, the body has various mechanisms to keep its temperature constant. One of these mechanisms works by changing the amount of blood in the veins underneath the skin. When talking about body temperature, it is important to distinguish between the internal and external body temperature. The internal temperature is the temperature of the brain and internal organs, while the external body temperature is the temperature of the skin.

Normally, arteries that transport clean blood, and veins that carry dirty blood, are not connected; therefore clean and dirty blood never mix. However, as a consequence of some illnesses or birth defects, an abnormal bridge between arteries and veins may be present. This kind of condition is usually called arteriovenous shunts, or arteriovenous fistula. In these kinds of situations, blood is pumped directly from arteries to veins. In other words, clean blood flows towards dirty blood. Normally, the clean blood has to travel the body, providing oxygen and other supplements to cells, while collecting carbon dioxide and returning to the heart to be cleaned again.

An incredible network for the transportation of substances from the blood in arteries and veins has been created. If this system, known as the “capillary network,” did not exist, none of our organs could be fed, and the circulatory system would not be able to provide its vital function.

The system is necessary for two reasons. The speed of the blood in the arteries and veins is too fast for anything to be transported to the organs, and their walls are too thick to allow transportation of substances. Therefore, the blood travels from the arteries to the capillaries, and after the trading of oxygen and other substances with carbon dioxide is completed, it flows to the veins. If any kind of abnormalities exist, the blood flows directly from the arteries to the veins, therefore skipping the capillaries. As a consequence, the organs aren’t fed and the blood gathers in the veins without fulfilling its purpose. Naturally, the oxygen and nutrition balance of the organs gets messed up. The blood is pumped out of the heart with no purpose and heart failure becomes inevitable.

The capillary network has been assigned the task of communication between arteries and veins. The skins is our only organ where the blood flows directly from arteries to veins; AV shunts accomplish a very important duty in this function.

There is a network of veins underneath the skin. The number of veins in this network is so many that if they were completely filled up, they could hold up to two liters of blood in the skin. Blood is pumped to the skin for two purposes: to provide oxygen and nutrients to the cells, and to collect carbon dioxide and waste products in the cells, as is done with every organ; and to monitor the internal temperature of the body by sending blood to the skin if the temperature gets too high, similar to what radiators in cars do when the engine gets too hot.

There is also the subcutaneous fat tissue underneath the skin which acts as an insulator. The vein network mentioned above is inside this fat tissue. There is a continuous flow of blood from the capillaries that feed the skin towards this network of veins. Moreover, especially in areas where the skin is exposed – such as the hands, feet, face and ears – there is a blood flow from the small arteries towards this network of veins. Contrary to other organs in the body, blood flows directly from the arteries to the veins. If this direct blood flow did not exist, the amount of blood in the skin’s veins would be close to zero, because the amount of blood necessary for skin nutrition is very little. However when the internal temperature rises too much, the amount of blood, which is normally close to zero, can suddenly increase to as much as 30% of the blood pumped by the heart. In this case, the body’s internal temperature is being transported to the skin. This is an incredibly efficient cooling system. However, if the weather is cold, the AV shunt veins are switched off and the skin’s blood flow is decreased until close to zero, therefore maintaining internal temperature. The fat tissue underneath the skin also has a very important function, as it acts as insulation, helping maintain temperature.

Body temperature and the body’s systems work in perfect coordination with each other. We can observe a very simplified version of this system in computer based air conditioners. However, when we reflect upon the incredibly sophisticated cooling system of the human body, we come to the conclusion that no other system is as perfect as that.

The hypothalamus, which has various vital duties for the brain, was also given the very important mission of controlling the body’s temperature. There are hot and cold heat receptors in various parts of the hypothalamus. When body temperature increases, these receptors are activated. As a consequence of this warning, skin veins all over the body expand. Simultaneous with the expansion of the veins, sweat is excreted.

The hypothalamus also has the duty of suppressing the mechanisms that produce heat throughout the body. For example, trembling is stopped and general metabolism is slowed down to decrease body temperature. As metabolism slows down, the production of heat becomes minimal, and cooling takes place. In conditions where the body temperature is too cold, some hormones secreted in the hypothalamus trigger the pituitary, and then the thyroid, hormones. Since thyroid hormones are responsible for increasing metabolism, body temperature increases. However if body temperature increases above normal, the control of the hypothalamus on the thyroid is reversed, and thyroid hormones are decreased, therefore decreasing body temperature.

There is one more reason for placing so many veins in the perfect and miraculous body’s skin: except for extremely cold weather conditions, quite a large amount of blood exists in these veins that are not used for nutritional purposes. Some of our organs act as storage for blood; two of the most important ones are the spleen and liver. Another one is the skin. In the course of losing blood, or an illness that increases the need for blood, the spleen and liver shrink. As a consequence of this shrinkage, the blood inside them is sent to the heart, through veins, and distributed to the areas in need of blood. This increases the heart rate.

A similar scenario occurs in the skin. The veins responsible for cooling shrink, and the blood they contain is sent to the heart with the help of the main veins, therefore helping the heart pump. During heavy loss of blood, the blood in the skin comes to the rescue. Patients who are losing blood have incredibly cold and pale skin. This is because the blood in the skin has reduced to a minimum.

The obverse of this happens in an illness called erythromelalgia, where more blood than normal flows from the arteries to the veins in the skin. This is mostly seen in the hands, feet, nose, and ears, since AV shunts are more prevalent in these areas of the skin. The symptom of this illness is burning pain, which is triggered by heat and soothed by cool temperatures. The nutrition of the skin decreases and some substances produced because of the absence of oxygen increases redness, heat, and pain, since some of the capillaries feeding the skin shut down and all of the blood flows from arteries to veins with the AV shunts.

Our skin protects our muscles and bones, and contributes to the beautiful aesthetic of our body. It provides our sense of touch, and is therefore a means for us to experience the material world, as well as providing temperature control for our bodies. It can clearly be seen that the relationship between the skin and the veins could not have evolved by the consequence of coincidence.

“There are numerous perfect mechanisms put to work by our Creator in a fashion that is impossible for us to know; it is equally impossible for us to control each of them.”

“This body is mine! Thus, I have a right to use it as I like!”

How do we own our body? How much of it belongs to us? Can we still stand behind the phrase “this body is mine!” when we explain “scientifically” that it is not? To what extent does that statement meet the truth?

First paragraphs of human biology textbooks strongly mention the phenomenon that the sustenance of life takes place outside our will. Does our first creation in our mother’s womb, when we become existent out of nowhere, happen by our will? Do we have a say in the creation of our body, which is the dress of our soul? Of course we don’t. Even our senses, which are involved in eating and drinking, exist outside of our will. The feeling of hunger, for instance, does not come forth from our control; it is dependent on the emptiness of the stomach, and low blood sugar. Hunger is not only a sense of alarm or warning, but also a feeling that forces one to eat; it disappears when one is full. If it was only a sense of alarm, one could get away with it. This situation shows that the human is not a machine composed of flesh only. If we refuse to respond to this feeling of hunger, it may eventually lead to serious, even fatal, consequences, such as patients suffering from Anorexia nervosa, a severe psychological disorder that can lead to self starvation.

If there were no such thing as hunger or appetite, humans would not be interested in working. The feeling of hunger is a remembrance to the One who provides. As a matter of fact, all our emotions are temporary belongings that provide for the sustenance of life, and for the continuation of generations. Sexual desires are provided so that we can have families and can continue the human race; an appetite for food is given so that we can maintain our lives, and the sense of cold is given so that we dress.

In our village, one of our neighbors suffered from a stroke. All of the senses of pain, hot or cold, and touch disappeared from his legs. A pathological sense urged the patient to ask care takers to warm the stroked leg. Upon the patient’s strong request, care takers tried to warm the underside of the foot with a hot iron over a piece of cloth. As a result, the patient suffered severe foot burns all the way to the bone, since neither the patient nor the care takers noticed the damage. The nerve endings embedded in our skin are in charge of sensing hot or cold; and nerves that are buried deep in our legs and arms are tasked with relaying those senses to our brain.

Despite feelings of cold or excess heat being connected to certain areas of the brain and nerve cells, these senses are not completely delivered to brain. That is to say that we are not simply machines made out of elements found in the earth. We do have emotions and a soul in charge of controlling those emotions, and a spiritual world connected to it. It is such that even senses of hot and cold do not belong to us and we cannot even generate or control them.

We cannot start our body just like we start a washing machine. We do not have a button to restart our heart in case it stops. How does a heart work? Have we ever thought about the number of nerves employed in sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomous nerve networks that make the heart work? All of the muscle cells of the heart contract with perfect timing. Do you know that special channels called “gap junctions” in between neighbor muscle cells are put to work wondrously in order to let electric signals pass from one cell to another? If millions of muscle cells in a heart did not have to work like that, how could all our cells get their nourishment, necessary substances, and oxygen in time? All of these processes happen outside our will.

How many red blood cells or white blood cells do you have, and how are they working? When the hemoglobin molecule reaches cells, it releases the oxygen molecule that is bound in lungs. Does the hemoglobin do this act of binding and releasing by its own discretion? Red blood cells get accelerated with proper speed so that cells get their nourishment on time. Is this something we do on our own? Our body is protected from diseases as white blood cells recognize and attack foreign microorganisms and substances. How can a white blood cell separate normal cells from harmful bacteria? There are numerous perfect mechanisms put to work by our Creator in a fashion that is impossible for us to know; it is equally impossible for us to control each of them. We do profit-loss calculations in every business of ours. Our body employs a great principle of economy; do we know how that is put to life or who makes that work?

Neurons, axons, dendrites, synapses, and neuro-transmitters exist and function in amazing numbers in our brains. Countless connections between neurons, and electric currents through synapses, happen without us even noticing them. How do neurotransmitters only bind with their own receptors and open ion channels? How does this relay of information occur in our brain when Na and Ca ions, existing in soil, rocks, and salt – which we use as a condiment – pass through these electrically controlled ion channels? Even if we know about these intricate works, it is still not up to our will to enable or control them.

How do nerve networks function? How many types of neuron circuitries exist, and how do they work? How does membrane potential form in nerve and muscle cells? How is action potential generated? When we touch a substance, which nerve tracks are utilized to transport the information? Do we have the option to pull the plug of pain and feel free of it? If this machine-like body belonged to us, then we could control and regulate it.

When we are purchasing a computer, we get the hardware according to our budget. We ask and order for the processing speed, memory, and the capacity of a computer to meet our needs. Do we get to arrange the capacity of our brain that we think we own?

Do we know that more than 75% of chewing is a reflex and happens outside our control and will? How good is it that we realize that only one of the three phases of swallowing is actually under our control and the rest of the process happens by our reflexes during eating and drinking? If swallowing was to be in our control, it would be highly likely that pieces of food and fluid droplets would easily choke our lungs and might cause death. How do our stomach and intestines work? At what speeds do secretions and movements take place? The content and amount of oral, gastro-intestinal, and pancreatic secretions are regulated according to the amount and type of food we intake. These regulations continue through our lifespan without any cessation.

Are we able to stop our heart beat when we are just a baby in our mother’s womb even for a minute? How does our heart work? How much blood is pumped in a minute? Approximately how long after the conception of egg and sperm does the heart start to beat: weeks, days? Do we know that our heart starts beating when we are as small as a tiny piece of flesh around week four?

How can we assert that we control our body, even when, to this day, scientists do not have a solid comprehension other than some assumptions of the rhythmic continuation of respiration during sleep or coma?

Since we own this heart and lungs, therefore can we manage to die whenever we want to stop them? Never!

We can conclude that the assertion of “this body is ours” is a deceptive, misleading perception. This body is given to us as a temporary belonging. It is very clear scientifically that all of the works, acts, and wondrous arts of the body do not belong to us, but to the One who created them. Our responsibility is to keep that in mind and be thankful for all the bountiful blessings.

Omer Arifagaoglu is a professor of medicine in Turkey.

In the mechanics of engineering, the force of inertia depends on the acceleration of a moving object along with its mass. Therefore, the force of inertia on an object is equal to the mass times acceleration. Accordingly, the faster an object gains speed, the greater will be the force of inertia. However, this brings along many problems in practice. In machines with pistons (compressors, pumps etc.) which are accelerating and slowing down speedily, a great force of inertia is applied to the machine’s elements. This gives way to a significant amount of resistance and abrasion problems. In addition there are other such troubles inside an engine’s cylinder during the four strokes (induction, compression, expansion, and exhaust). A greater force is required for brake mechanisms at the motion of elevators, banded conveyors, and automobiles. This is why brake linings wear out in a short time.

According to the principles of thermodynamics, where a piston-cylinder system is concerned and the compression or expansion of gases is slower, minimum energy is required during compression and maximum energy is obtained during expansion. On the other hand, if this process of compression and expansion is realized quickly, then the energy consumption is maximum during compression and minimum during expansion. Turning the tap too quickly to stop the flow of water causes a greater force of inertia inside, and if this continues to occur frequently, the faucet may need repair.

Things done too quickly present similar consequences. A person becomes rich as a result of working for long years has a better chance to appreciate his conditions in comparison to someone who becomes rich by winning a lottery. Decisions made in haste without consulting with others mostly yield negative results, which happens rarely in those made after consultation, since the risk of mistakes is reduced.

Living things and gradualness

For living things, adaptation to hot or cold environments is also a gradual process. If adaptation is not realized slowly, they cannot survive. For example, if a man starts by taking showers with hot water, then gradually with warmer water, and in the end with cold water, his body can develop endurance to cold water, even freezing water in winter. Some mothers wrap up their children too well even in good weather, and thereby do not let them adapt to changing weather conditions; such children catch cold easier than others.

Principle of gradualness has an obvious relation with being steadfast and patient, as in the cases of hatching chicks and silkworms in their cocoon. Human intervention to accelerate these processes will naturally have some negative effects. If the wing of a chick is forced to separate from the egg before the due time, it might hurt the animal seriously.

According to dieticians, stomach problems are more commonly found in those who eat quickly than who eat without haste. In addition, it is also known that meals cooked in low heat are more delicious and have higher nutritional value. It is essential for food quality to cool the foods gradually before they undergo freezing. Similarly, before cooking frozen food, it is advised to thaw out the food, gradually bringing it to values near room temperature.

A frog’s nervous system is sensitive to sudden changes, not gradual ones. For this reason, when it is thrown in hot water, it jumps back right away. But if the water is heated gradually, the frog will show no reaction, it will even enjoy it. Despite the increasing heat, the animal feels numb more and more, to such a degree that it fails to escape before it is too late. Even though there may be no obstacle to jumping out, the frog pays a heavy price for the heedless life it led. So, it is very significant to be able to observe the gradual changes and take measures accordingly.

Human life reflects this principle in many ways. From biological development to learning new subjects, different kinds of progress depend on a gradual process. Nevertheless, human beings are too impatient to follow gradual patterns. You may have heard from people who want to learn a new subject-such as a foreign language-express how they wish there were some pills or other quick ways to realize their aim all at once.

Indeed, mankind is ever hasty. Success and joy, however, rest with patience and being in the right tune with gradualness.

Let us imagine the earth as a small sphere before us. If we throw an object from the North Pole toward point A on the equator line, the object follows a curved line towards the right side and reaches point B, not point A. Likewise, an object thrown from the South Pole towards the same point A will follow a similar line curved in the opposite direction. These cases have a common point. An object rolling on a rotating ground moves on a curved line. This curved line, instead of a straight one, is explained with reference to the force of acceleration. This force is named after the French engineer, Coriolis who explained it in 1835. If this force-which is generated by the earth rotating around its own axis-did not exist, then air movements and ocean currents, and consequently the climate conditions of our world, would be different than they are. The objects in our example, thrown from the two poles, go in different directions, because the world rotates counter-clockwise when looked from the North Pole, and clockwise from the South Pole.

The air over the equator receives the sun’s rays at a broad angle. It rises up after gaining heat and is replaced by colder air coming from distant latitudes. Air convection begins in connection with these heat changes. So if the world did not rotate, the air on the Poles would get heavier with cold air and come down. Then, it would be replaced by hot air from lower latitudes. The air at the equator would rise up with gaining heat and would move until reaching the Poles where it would come down after losing heat. Then, it would return to the equator, this time very close to the ground. In this case, the world would probably be an uninhabitable place with cold and fierce winds blowing all around. And of course, the side facing the sun would be very hot and the other side would be very cold.

Instead, the Coriolis effect makes these great atmospheric air masses move over our rotating earth. The hot air rising up from the equator moves towards the poles with a curved course thanks to the Coriolis effect (Figure 4). As this air current approaches the latitudes around 30 degrees, it loses heat and descends. A part of the descending air begins to move back toward the equator, but it follows a curved line again owing to the Coriolis effect. So this last curving forms the “trade winds.” In the past, sailing ships traveled from Europe to America for the purpose of trade; thus, these winds were named as trade winds. This air circulation between the equator and the 30-degree meridians is known as Hadley circulation. These air currents cause heavy rainfall in the equatorial region and the consequent formation of rain forests, which are considered as the lungs of our planet, and also they cause the formation of deserts around the region where the dry and hot weather are pure blessings for us. They are a blessing because the airborne dust rising from the desert fertilizes the rainclouds and plays a critical role for rainfall.

The air over the poles becomes cold, and it causes another air current as it becomes heavier and starts to descend. As the lowered air moves toward the equator, it changes course with the Coriolis effect. At the same time it begins to gain heat and ascend. At the latitudes where water ascends by gaining heat, a rain climate prevails. This polar air cycle is seen between latitudes of 60-90 degrees.

Some part of the air current, which descends down around 30 degrees of latitude, moves toward the poles at a low level. Also, some part of the air which comes from the poles and ascends begins to move towards the equator. So a third air cycling begins between the altitudes between 30-60 degrees. The “western winds” are brought forth from this third cycle. During the time of sailing ships, these winds were used to traveling from America to Europe (Figure 4).

In order for these air cycles to happen, the earth’s rotation around its own axis is not sufficient; its speed and atmospheric mass also play an important role. If the earth rotated slower, the Coriolis Effect would be too weak to give way to a triple air cycle. For example, since Venus rotates too slowly, there is only a single air cycle in its atmosphere. Another factor, as we mentioned, is the mass of the atmosphere. Since the atmosphere of Mars is thin and its mass is relatively less, the Coriolis Effect is too weak and there is only a single air cycle.

Coriolis Effect prevents the air current from following a straight course and the isobars form twisters as they proceed. Therefore, hurricanes in the Northern hemisphere move counter-clockwise, and those in the south move clockwise (Figure 5). Naturally, these main atmospheric movements are not the only ones. A region’s climate is dependent on several factors such as landscape, night-day heat differences, and the like. Therefore, the climatic conditions on the earth have a very complex structure. Even when we consider just these few factors discussed here, it is evident that there are countless parameters that make human life possible in our planet, and each one is finely adjusted. Even slight changes in rotation and the mass of the atmosphere would result in a dramatically different planet Earth.

The ocean currents

Movement of air masses affects the water on the ocean surface as well. Thus, wind-generated surface currents are born. These currents are parallel with the relevant winds. It is a well-known fact that these huge bodies of water change the climate of the regions they pass. Therefore, two places at 54 degrees of latitude show a surprising difference: there can be a polar bears’ park in Ontario, whereas palm trees and tropical fruits can grow in Belfast thanks to the Gulf Stream. There are other warm ocean currents that pass from Brazil, and the north and south of the equator. Some of major cold surface currents pass from Labrador, Canada, the Falkland Islands, and Peru. Warm currents soften the climate of the regions they pass, while cold currents provide sea creatures with rich food, and they are important areas of fishing.

The impact of the wind on ocean water normally reaches as deep as 100-200 meters, and even 1,000 meters in some cases. The Coriolis effect has a determining role on the direction of the currents. These currents on the move make a turn when their way is blocked by land. Thus, the succession of ocean currents becomes a cycle, and they form the great current cycles named as “gyre.” They turn clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the south.

There are five main ocean circulations on earth and each of them consists of four streams. These currents are at the north and south of the Atlantic Ocean, the north and south of the Pacific Ocean, and one in the Indian Ocean. The North Atlantic circulation is made up of the Northern Equator Current, the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, and the Canary Current.

With the Coriolis effect, a blessing of wondrous scale, food chains are brought to life in the ocean and around coastal regions. The ocean waters are set in motion by the winds generated by the Coriolis effect, but they do not strictly follow the winds that activated them. With a deflection of nearly 45 degrees they move right in the Northern Hemisphere and to left in the Southern Hemisphere.

The effect of the winds weakens in the deeper ocean waters, and then the Coriolis effect becomes dominant. Thus the direction of ocean water carried in the Northern Hemisphere is vertical to the wind direction and towards the right. This condition causes ocean waters to be pushed towards the circulatory center, and the water level there rises about 2 meters.

As rising waters move down with the effect of gravity, the Coriolis effect comes to the stage again to give way to another current in the same direction within that current. The waters that were rising toward the center begin to sink, and they form a new vertical current. For the same reason, the separation of the water current to the right and left directions around the equatorial regions gives way to the waters at the bottom which then come to the surface. At these places, the water level decreases a little. This “upwelling” phenomenon has very important results. Dead organisms sinking down are broken down by bacteria in the deep waters. When this nutrient-rich water returns to the surface, it is a great blessing for so many sea creatures. It is a striking fact that the rotating of the earth is a means for providing many living beings with sustenance. All of these finely adjusted balances on our planet, which we mostly take for granted, provide reflecting minds with food for thought.

On the last day of summer

Ten hours before fall…

….My grandfather took me

Out to the Wall.

For a while he stood silent

Then finally he said,

With a very sad shake

Of his very old head,

“As you know, on this side of the Wall

We are Yooks.

On the other side of the Wall

Live the Zooks”

Thus, The Butter Battle Book, written by the well known author, Dr. Seuss invites the young reader to the world of Yooks and Zooks. The colorful illustrations of the book show from the first two pages that Yooks and Zooks are creatures quite alike in appearance with the only difference that Yooks dress in blue while Zooks are dressed in orange. Hence one cannot grasp at the beginning why a wall stands between them. Yet, the following words of the grandfather introduce to the reader another “important” difference without delay.

Then my grandfather said

“It’s high time that you knew

Of the terrible, horrible thing that Zooks do

In every Zook house and in every Zook town

Every Zook eats his bread

With the butter side down!”

“But we Yooks, as you know,

when we breakfast or sup,

spread our bread,” Grandpa said,

“with the butter side up

That’s the right, honest way!”

Grandpa gritted his teeth.

“So you can’t trust a Zook who spreads bread underneath!

Now, I see you smile at the “horrible” crime Zooks commit but don’t dismiss it as a funny little story. Rather try to remember how your own parents, your teachers, or even books you read shaped the way you looked at others. How much of this acquired knowledge and experience caused prejudice, fear, and hostility? Or if you please, take a greater challenge and ponder on how you interact today with people that are different from you. Do you erect walls or do you build bridges?

As you reflect on yourself and your life consider how the grandfather Yook delivers an important warning to his grandchild.

Every Zook must be watched!

He has kinks in his soul!

That’s why, as a youth, I made watching my goal,

watching Zooks for the Zook-Watching Border Patrol!

In those days, of course

the Wall wasn’t so high

and I could look any Zook

square in the eye

If he dared to come close

I could give him a twitch

With my tough-tufted

Snick Berry Switch

Isn’t it interesting that the difference between Yooks and Zooks instead of becoming a reason for curious attraction toward each other became a pretext for hostility and suspicion? Then again, this is no novelty to us, is it? When fear and hostility join hand, the clash is sure to come.

For the Yooks the clash began when one day a Zook named Van Itch slingshot the Grandfather’s “Tough-Tufted Prickly Snick-Berry Switch.” The Yooks then developed a machine with three slingshots interlinked, called a “Triple-Sling Jigger.” This gun worked once (Van Itch got scared and ran off), but the Zooks counterattacked with their own creation: The “Jigger-Rock Snatchem,” a machine with three nets to fling the rocks fired from the Triple-Sling Jigger back at the Yooks’ side “just as fast as we catch ‘em.”

Page by page the conflict between the two sides escalates and leads to a long arms race for bigger and better weapons to outdo the other, which unsurprisingly brings the Yooks and Zooks on the scary threshold of mutual destruction.

The Butter Battle Book was written during the Cold War era, and many critics think that the book reflects the concerns of the time, especially the perceived possibility that all life on earth could be destroyed in a nuclear war. The book’s apparent position regarding the arms race could be one of the reasons why The Butter Battle Book was once removed from the shelves of public libraries during the Cold War. Another reason could have been educators’ worries about the inappropriateness of introducing the idea of annihilation to young children.

The Butter Battle Book has also been seen as an enjoyable satirical work, with its depiction of a deadly war based on a senseless conflict over something as trivial as a breakfast food. The book’s delightful illustrations and its tongue twisting rhymes make the book fun to read.

Let’s go back to the book because meanwhile, both the Yooks and the Zooks have come to the end of their race. Both sides have developed the same equally powerful destructive bomb: “the bitsy big boy boomeroo.” On the last page of the book grandfather and Van Itch stand still about to drop the bomb and we hear the grandchild’s fearful cry:

“Granpa!” I shouted “Be careful! Oh Gee!

Who’s going to drop it?

Will you…? Will he…?”

“Be patient,” said Granpa. “We’ll see.”

“We will see…”

You may feel unsatisfied with the inconclusive ending, yet some literary critics deem it perfect for provoking discussion on how Zooks and Yooks might develop alternative ways to solve their problems. In fact, this entire book could be an excellent manual for peace studies educators to incorporate conflict resolution on both small and large scales.

On the other hand a National Review article published in July 27, 1984 (shortly after the book came out in print) draws attention to the idea that the inconclusive ending of the book could do damage to the cause Seuss is professing. The article claims that: “By ending inconclusively, with neither side having fired a serious shot and with each side wary of the nuclear weapons of the other, Seuss reminds us that nuclear weapons have kept the peace for nearly forty years now.” According to this article children may as well conclude that the surest way to achieve peace is to remain strong albeit strong at times might translate into inventing and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

Parental or teacher guidance during the reading of this book could be of great help in this case. Thought provoking questions can be addressed such as: Can the non-existence of war be considered real peace? Is a cold war the most peace that can be achieved?

Conclusion

Because history seems to repeat itself The Butter Battle Book and its message are far from obsolete even today, two decades later. As we hear with dread news of wars and ongoing nuclear armaments, as the map of the world is marked with more “hot spots,” we get the gut feeling that maybe we are living in the land of Yooks and Zooks. We feel that it is imperative to promote peace and prevent the infamous prediction of the so called clash of civilizations.

If we, people of this world, should wage a war why not wage one to eradicate poverty, ignorance and hostility? If we should take up arms can’t they be sound education, tolerance, love, and mutual understanding? With the situation as it is, it seems like we don’t possess the luxury to lay back and say: “We’ll see…. We will see…”

It brings hope to see that many people think likewise and have already rolled up their sleeves for the noble cause of peace making. The opportunities to get involved in this noble cause for peace are limitless starting from nonprofit organizations promoting tolerance and peacemaking to small groups that act against prejudice and discrimination. If you feel you are too insignificant to make an impact, then here is something simple to do; read The Butter Battle Book with a child and talk about all the beauties that come with peace.

Mirkena Ozer pursues creative writing at University of Georgia, Atlanta.

References and notes

1. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Butter+Battle+Book.-a03363441.

I am the barrier between your body and the outer world and I am responsible for this area. I can sense every change in the outer world, including heat, cold, humidity, pressure, various radiations, and the effects of many harmful chemicals and physical phenomena. When I become aware of the presence of something that is harmful, I warn your organs to act according to these changing conditions. That is why everybody knows me primarily as a sense organ.

However, in addition to being a sense organ, I have many other important duties; however, if I were to list them here, this article would take up the entire magazine. In order to ensure your good health I have to carry out my duties, be they aesthetic, protective or metabolic, perfectly. Even if you only examine my appearance, you will see how beautiful I am. You should visit an anatomy laboratory one day and watch the medical students performing an autopsy. Examine the cadaver whose skin has been pulled back to allow the students to study the internal organs. Look, if you can! Although the body is miracle, if the skin is not present, it would lose its splendor and become ugly and horrible. The beauty and meaningful existence of all the other organs are only complete with me. Our Lord God Almighty has created me and dressed you with me as a garment that fits each part of your body. He has lined your palms and soles with a thick outer lining made of keratin; this enables you to walk and use some hand tools easily. If on the foot or hand I were as thin as I am in the lip area, then I would easily get punctured and injured while walking or using a tool. God has created special joints where your fingers and toes join the feet and hands. These joints allow your fingers, hands and feet to move in many different ways. In order to protect your head from the sun and cold God has changed some of my cells into hair and has given it the ability to grow constantly. God also protects your eyes with special hairs that we call eyelashes and eyebrows. With these He also completes the beauty of your face. However, these do not grow constantly like the hair on our heads. Just think, otherwise you would have to trim both your eyebrows and eyelashes everyday in order to see. The special hairs in your nose and ears help prevent the entry of harmful particles, like dust or harmful microorganisms. You may think “How important is that? Just a few strands of hair?” Of course, hair is not the most important thing of all, but is life nothing more than staying alive? Of course not! There is also an aesthetic aspect to life. We can understand this if we look at a person who has no eyebrows or eyelashes! Certainly, God has made human beings beautiful creations and the hair is an important part of this beauty. As with everything He does, the significance of the hair is much more meaningful than when first seen.

In addition to my aesthetic beauty, I should also tell you about my protective functions. My first and most vital job is to balance the level of liquid in your body and to prevent its loss. The liquid level and the amount of minerals inside your body are very important. If it were not for me your kidneys would not be able to regulate the level of these liquids. It is for this reason that people who have burns that take up two-thirds of their skin or more cannot live; the water loss in their bodies is too great. In burn care centers, they try to control the loss of liquids using very sensitive devices; however, with serious burns this is usually unsuccessful. My protective functions are not limited to liquids; I also protect your body from all kinds of bacteria, funguses and viruses. As you know, your skin can get inflamed and infected from even a thorn. If the skin becomes damaged or broken over a large area you could face serious infections. This is because if I am not present many microorganisms will invade your body and make you ill.

Your body is very sensitive to heat and cold. The temperature of your inner body normally should be between 370C and 38 0C (96.8 0F and 98.6 0F); if it increases above this temperature, then you are unwell. If you remain for a long time in cold conditions and your inner body temperature falls off, many of your organs, especially the lungs, stomach, and kidneys are damaged and cannot work properly. You could die if the temperature is too low for too long. And in contrast, if you stay too long in the heat and your inner body temperature increases, your nervous system can be damaged, as the brain is very sensitive. Then your heart and other organs will start to fail, which eventually results in death. Indeed, human beings live everywhere, from the deserts to the poles and everywhere people are able to maintain an inner core temperature that is constant between 96.8 0F and 98.6 0F. I play a very important part in this system. Although the main control center is the brain, it acts according to stimuli that I send and I carry out important functions when the brain responds to these stimuli. Later, I will tell you how I can both warm and cool you.

Before telling you about my other functions, I would also like to tell you about my structure, which appears quite basic from the outside. Of course, I am not simply a cover that wraps your flesh. First of all, I am a living organ that is being nourished, that grows, that is repaired and which is very flexible. As I get rid of dead cells, I replace them with new ones; I am aware of everything that happens in my surroundings and I allow you to feel the world around you. I consist of two major layers: the epidermis (outmost layer) and the dermis (the inner level). The visible layer, the epidermis, consists of cells that gradually die off and stiffen. Those cells are toughened with a protein called keratin which is absorbed inside their structure; everyday I shed dead skin cells. This is part of the “dirt” that is removed from your body with every shower. This outer layer contains bacteria, funguses or other parasites that have been transmitted from the outside world and which may cause diseases. These parasites are removed as the dead skin cells are shed. The innermost layer (stratum germinativum) of the epidermis has a great capacity for cell division and it constantly produces new cells from the bottom to the outermost level. These cells start out life as cylinders, but as they move towards the outer surface they become cubical and then flatten out. At the same time keratin is being produced in those cells, and as a result they stiffen and start to die off. When the cells arrive at the outermost level, they are already dead. Some of those dead cells do not fall off. They accumulate and combine to make up the structures that we call nails and calluses. In this way the cells protect those areas that are most sensitive or most often used.

You will be surprised to see what great biological activities take place in the epidermis. Even when a person dies, this layer does not die right away. After death the nails and beard continue to grow. This occurs because of the activities in the germinative epithelium, which makes up the basal layer of the epidermis.

Beneath the epidermis is the dermis, a relatively thick layer. This is the layer which keeps the skin lively and firm and which produces the color. Many works of arts are present in this layer to complete my splendid structure. This layer consists of connective tissue with fiber bundles that is made of collagen protein. As people get older, their skin dries up and starts to lose its collagen proteins. Once the fibers start to decrease, I lose my firmness, and then I start to wrinkle. Although people are not happy with wrinkles, which are inevitable, I don’t think this is something to worry about; wrinkles are also a sign of maturity and experience. In the structure of my dermis there are other parts that have very important functions: The sweat glands, which are in the shape of coiled tubes, spread throughout the body act as ventilators; in addition, the hair follicles, the sebaceous gland, which helps to nourish and moisturize the hair, the chromatophores (pigment-containing cells) that determine the skin color, the hair muscles that give your hair flexibility and the blood vessels that nourish me are all important. I also have special receptor cells that can sense temperature, pressure and pain and there are nerve endings scattered among these cells.

In different parts of the body I am more sensitive to particular sensations. My sense receptors (corpuscles) vary in shape and you human beings have named them after the scientists who discovered them. There is Pacini’s corpuscle, Meissner’s corpuscle, Ruffini’s corpuscle and Krause’s corpuscle. Each of those receptors is thought to be receiving independent stimuli, but this has not been proven by experiment yet.

Do you ever wonder why you and your friends have so many different skin tones? This is the result of the work of the chromatophores (cells that contain pigment) which are located in the dermis, at the point closest to the epidermis. These cells, which have a number of branches, move in relation to the intensity of the light, and their branches can stretch and shrink back. These movements cause the pigment granules (melanin granules) to disperse within the cell or aggregate towards the center. This is how they can lighten or darken the skin color, causing you to get a “tan.” The seasons, the length of the day and the intensity and duration of the sunlight all affect the movement of these cells. These cells darken your skin color during the summer and lighten it during the winter. But, why is this necessary? This is a wonderful physiologic mechanism that has so many amazing purposes and meanings. I am sure you have noticed that people who live in Northern Europe and North America have a lighter complexion than those who live in the more southerly regions of the earth. This is because the countries in these northern regions are exposed to a less intense sunlight for a shorter time. The further north you go the more rainy and cloudy it is. However, sunlight also plays a very important role in the synthesizing of vitamin D in your body. The molecule known as 7-dehydrocholesterol can be converted into vitamin D only with sunlight. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is highly important for calcium absorption and bone metabolism. If you do not have enough exposure to the sun, then vitamin D cannot be produced; this could result in disorders like rickets (most common), as well as several other bone diseases and skeletal complications. However, it is interesting that sunlight is a two-edged sword. Neither too much nor too little sunlight is good for you. Too much exposure to the sunlight damages my health, causing such diseases as skin cancer and eye disorders. Our Lord God Almighty has made all parts of the earth suitable for human life. He knows well, of course, what people need in order to be able to live in places that have less sunlight and in other places that have a great deal of sunlight. In order to allow people to benefit from the sunlight everywhere, He has given the necessary qualities to my chromotaphores and the melanin granules that they contain. In places that have less sunlight, my chromotaphores synthesize less melanin. The melanin disperses throughout the cells or the cells move downwards, and my color lightens. This allows more sun absorption and this sunlight is used for vitamin D production. In sunny places, however, people are more exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun as well as other forms of radiation. This is why the risk of my cells becoming mutant and cancerous is greatly increased. In order to avoid such a situation, more melanin is synthesized in people who live in sunny places. The melanin in the chrotaphores gathers towards the center of the cell and my color darkens. Thus, excess sunlight is absorbed by my melanin pigments thanks to their special structure and function. This prevents other sensitive cells from becoming damaged and cancerous.

During hot weather, in order to balance your inner body temperature, the blood vessels that pass through the skin expand and more blood is carried through the skin. I give off the water in my blood through my sweat glands. While this warm water called “sweat” spreads over my surface and evaporates, an important amount of heat is released into the air. Thus, your inner body temperature does not increase and you remain cool inside. Thanks to the work of my sweat glands, I can also get rid of some nitrogenous waste and thus support your kidneys. During cold weather, however, the activities of my sweat glands decrease, and this helps you to stay warm. The blood vessels narrow so that the blood in me is reduced. More warm blood is channeled into your body so that your important inner organs do not become cold. The muscles of my hairs contract and the hairs straighten, thickening the layer of hair that covers me. It feels like you are covered with a blanket. If your body temperature falls off significantly, my receptors stimulate the muscles that lie under me and these muscles produce heat by vibrating. That is why you shiver from cold! Women have fewer hairs on their body. Do you think this is unfair? Of course not! Unlike men, women’s bodies are created in such a way that they can store a greater percentage of fat among the tissues under the skin. This hypodermic fatty tissue not only protects women from cold, but it is also used as extra storage for nutrients that they use when breastfeeding. It also helps protect women’s muscles and bones against bumps and shocks from the outside. So, this tissue works both as a temperature isolator and as a “shock absorber.” There is nothing unfair about this. And, it proves that God gives each of His creation exactly what they need and deserve.

Some people say that the skin is a mirror of the body’s health; this is true. The fact that I am visible and can be examined easily makes me the first organ to display symptoms of many diseases that lie below. Abnormalities that appear on me are usually a sign of metabolism disorders, ulcers and other glandular disorders in the body. For example, if your liver is being affected by a poisonous substance, this shows up as red spots on the hands. But not only physical ailments affect, me; I am also affected by your spiritual condition. Of course, the opposite can happen, too. That is, diseases on the skin can affect your inner organs.

I have mentioned before that my ability to renew and repair myself is very great. God willing, I can repair mild burns, bruises and cuts easily under normal circumstances. However, if the bruise goes as deep as my basal layer, there might be a scare there to remind you in the future and to give thanks to God for your health. In addition, in diseases like diabetes, my ability to renew and repair myself is weakened and I cannot easily heal. In such cases, you have to take the utmost care to keep me clean so that I do not get infected.

Well Peter, I think that I have said enough about myself. I will not continue to go on about the many symptoms of diseases that can be seen on me, including, allergies, itchiness, and infections. However, it is important for you to know that I can demonstrate hundreds of different conditions that are caused by a great range of factors, such as genetically transmitted diseases, immune system disorders, and bacterial, viral, and fungal infections. But don’t worry! As you can see, the majority of people live a healthy life despite these risks. The Creator has provided your body with a protective mechanism and has taught you how to take care of yourself. My job here is to indicate the Creator and how He has made me a flawless work of art that demonstrates deep meanings behind its complexity. Rather than continuing to give you a lecture on dermatology, it would be better if you were to live according to God’s consent. If you do so, you will be protected from diseases; even if you do become ill, you will have greater patience and moral strength. You will also be more thankful to God for your health.

In his studies, (1993, 1996) Huntington suggests alternative explanations to understanding conflicts and disputes in the post-Cold War period. To him, “culture and cultural identities, which at the broadest level are civilizational identities, are shaping patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the post-Cold War” (Huntington 1996, 20).

The purpose of this paper is to test Huntington’s argument (1996) by addressing the following question: “Does a civilizational difference cause militarized interstate dispute?” The significance of the answer to this question is obvious: if Huntington’s claim is empirically supported, then dominant theories of international politics, which do not base conflicts on civilizational differences, have to be revised. And, therefore, Huntington’s theory will be useful in understanding the emerging world-order and explaining militarized disputes and conflicts that have occurred in the post-Cold War era.

Literature review

There were many responses and objections to Huntington’s argument that resulted in an extensive debate. Many of them claimed that the civilization theory is unable to explain the causes of conflicts and international order. In spite of the great number of responses and studies, few of these have been supported by quantitative research.

One of the important studies that evaluated Huntington’s argument and which deserves close attention was conducted by Russett, Oneal, and Cox in 2000 (in Triangulating Peace 2001, 239-305). The main question to be answered was “Does a difference in civilization increase the likelihood that a pair of states will become involved in a militarized interstate dispute?” (Russett et al 2001, 248). To perform their study, they used the University of Michigan’s Correlates of War (COW) database that provided Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID). In their view, limiting their analysis to MID that occurred during the 1950-92 period was appropriate, because “Huntington addressed events in these years when he first presented his argument in 1993” (249). Variables of liberal and realist theories were also added to their analysis in order to observe which theory had had higher explanatory and predictive power. Results of logistic regression indicated that variables of liberal and realist theories had much more influence on the probability of conflict than on civilization theory. Belonging to different civilizations increases the risk of dispute between two states only by 12 percent with .30 level of statistical significance. (255).

Huntington (2000, 609) replied to Russett et al, suggesting that they retest their argument as it was dealing with the post-Cold War period. Russett et al (2000, 611), in turn, argued that Huntington (1993) had used many disputes and conflicts that had not occurred in the post-Cold War era to justify and support his argument. That was the reason why they used MID of the 1950-92 period.

Another study to test Huntington’s argument was conducted by Jonathan Fox in 2001. He tried to examine whether conflicts between civilizations, particularly Western and Islamic conflicts, had increased with the end of the Cold War (Fox 2001, 459). He used the Minorities at Risk (MAR) dataset for his quantitative research and came up with interesting results. From a global perspective, the ratio of non-civilizational conflicts to civilizational conflicts had not changed significantly after the end of the Cold War. From an Islamic civilization perspective, there had been little change in the amount of conflicts among Islamic and other civilizations. However, from the perspective of Western civilizations, the proportion of conflicts between Western and Islamic civilizations had significantly increased since the end of the Cold War. Fox concludes that the findings illustrate that it is important which perspective one looks at conflicts from. If one looks from the Western perspective, they will find an increased amount of conflicts between Western and Islamic civilizations, which supports Huntington’s argument. But from the global and Islamic civilization perspective, little evidence can be found for a “clash of civilizations” in the post-Cold War period (459).

Although Fox’s study deserves attention, it does not examine conflicts among the other seven civilizations, but only focuses on the Western versus Islamic civilizations. Furthermore, his units of analysis are conflicts within states, not interstate. Interstate disputes are important in analyzing Huntington’s argument, because a nation as a whole has specific civilizational characteristics. According to Huntington’s map (1996, 26-27) of civilizations, each nation belongs to one of the nine civilizations and conflicts mostly arise among these. Conflicts that occur within states are only one minor part of Huntington’s argument.

Many other scholars have qualitatively criticized Huntington’s clash of civilizations theory. Ali Mazrui (1997) finds three major problems in Huntington’s argument. First, there is a “factual fallacy.” “It may not be factually true that the main lines of conflict of the future, following the Cold War, will be lines of clash of civilizations. It could be states or economic blocs” (Mazrui in Rashid 97, 27). Second, there could also be a “conceptual fallacy” in Huntington’s argument. Mazrui suggests a “clash of races” as an alternative to the clash of civilizations (27). Thirdly, there is a “temporal fallacy,” which means that inter-civilizational conflicts are not phenomena of the emerging world, but rather that they have been the most important issue of the world for at least the past four to five hundred years; within these conflicts we can include the Crusades, the “trans-Atlantic slave-trade, and European colonization of much of the world” (29).

In response to his critics (Foreign Affairs 1996, 67), Huntington stated that none of these scholars had come up with a better alternative to explain the conflicts of the new era. To him, the clash of civilizations remains the most powerful theory to understand disputes in the post-Cold War period.

In this context, this paper is of a crucial importance because 1) it will focus on militarized disputes of the post-Cold War period; 2) the disputes are among the states and civilizations they belong to; 3) and the study will conduct a quantitative method to analyze the clash of civilizations. Thus, this paper takes into account the weaknesses of previous studies and establishes a strong critique to Huntington’s argument.

Research design

This analysis uses the Correlates of War (COW) project’s Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID). The COW provides MID starting from 1816 to 2001. As Huntington (2000, 609) claims, the clash of civilizations theory is helpful in understanding conflicts that occurred after the end of the Cold War, specifically after 1989 (Huntington 1996, 21; Huntington 2000, 609). The COW project had MID reaching up to 2001, so I chose those MID which occurred from 1989 to 2001. Although the number of disputes in this period seems to be small to test any theory, it should be quite enough to evaluate Huntington’s argument, as post-Cold War disputes were the basis of his theory. I had 620 militarized interstate disputes in total. Each dispute occurred between at least two states; one state in side A, and another on side B. The sides are coded as 0 and 1. I had information on which pair of states had disputes. Some disputes had more than two sides. I rearranged these coalitions as if they had disputes separately as dyads. For instance, if there were two states on side A and two states on side B in a dispute, than there would be four dyads involved in the same dispute.

States in these disputes belong to one of the nine civilizations, which are Western, coded as 1, Latin American (2), African (3), Islamic (4), Sinic (5), Hindu (6), Orthodox (7), Buddhist (8), and Japanese (9). Huntington (1993, 1996) does not explicitly specify the number of civilizations. In his article (1993) he mentions about “seven or eight major civilizations.” To him, Buddhism “has not been the basis of a major civilization.” (Huntington 1996, 48). Also Japan has not founded any civilization as there are no nations that share the same religion, language, or cultural values with Japanese culture. However, map 1.3 (The World of Civilizations: Post-1990) in his book (1996, 26-27) shows that there are nine civilizations in the world, including Buddhist and Japanese. I used nine civilizations as shown in the map. Russett et al (2001, 251) used eight, excluding Japanese. I wonder how they dealt with disputes that had Japan on one of the sides.

Having nine coded civilizations and many more states in the dataset, I coded all states as any of the nine civilizations they belonged to, according to map 1.3. (Huntington 1996, 26-27). I had difficulties, as did Russett et al (2001, 251), in classifying some states, because the map was not clear and Huntington did not explicitly mention them in the text. For example Nigeria, according to the map is separated into two civilizations, Islamic and African. Since religion is the most important factor that distinguishes each civilization, I have used the CIA’s World Factbook to find out the proportion of religion in Nigeria, and classified it as Islamic. India is shown as a state of both Islamic and Hindu civilizations, but I have classified it as Hindu. Sri Lanka was classified as Buddhist in relevance with Russett et al (2001). The Philippines, in my classification, go into Sinic civilization, but Russett et al (2001) classify it as Western. The most interesting problem that occurred in classification was to which civilization Israel belongs. The question is significant, as Israel has had many disputes with its neighboring states. Huntington thinks Israel is an Islamic civilization according to the map. It is ironic that Israel is considered as an Islamic civilization, first because it has nothing to do with the religion of Islam, and second because such an approach decreases empirical support for Huntington’s argument. Although it does not make sense, I classified Israel as Islamic, strictly adhering to the map.

To answer my research question I had to use civilization dyads and observe if these dyads are prone to clash or not and how frequently they have disputes. Thus, I arranged these nine civilizations in dyadic form and came up with 45 civilization dyads, extracting each one of the same dyads as 1,2 v. 2,1. A dyad is labeled 0 if the civilizations in it are the same and 1 if the civilizations are different. After arranging civilization dyads, I plugged each dispute into one of the dyads and totaled it in regard to the 45 civilization dyads. Then I arranged the number of disputes in each dyad according to the proportion to the total number of disputes.

Huntington’s main hypothesis is that civilizations have mattered and have had positive impact on disputes in the post-Cold War period. I have my doubts about his argument and hypothesize that civilizations do not matter in interstate.

Data analysis

After running my Probit model, I have found that difference in civilizations had negative impact on interstate disputes with relatively small statistical significance (10). The findings of this paper contradict what Huntington (1993, 1996) suggests as his explanation for the causes of interstate disputes in the post-Cold War era. In other words, civilization differences do not cause interstate conflicts.

There have been a total of 620 militarized interstate disputes during the 1989-2001 period, according to the COW dataset (see Table 1). Some of civilization dyads did not have any disputes, whereas other dyads conflicted several times. Huntington’s argument that different civilizations clash does not find support with the results of this study. We can see from Table 1 that 19 dyads that consist of different civilizations have not had any militarized dispute since the end the Cold War. How can Huntington explain this phenomenon on the basis of his clash of civilizations argument? Can interstate disputes be explained by civilizational differences? The answers to these questions are obviously negative. Different variables of realist and liberal theories may explain the findings, but that is not within the scope of this study.

Limitations

One of the important limitations is the absence of a clear list of civilizations and states in these civilizations. If Huntington had provided these data then there would be no dissimilarities among the scholars who tried to test his argument. Some studies used eight civilizations while others used nine. Some states, like Israel and the Philippines were placed in different civilizations in different studies. This may influence the results of these studies, as these states have had many militarized disputes.

Conclusion

This study shows that Huntington’s argument is insufficient to explain conflicts in the new world order. As he argues, “culture and cultural identities, which at the broadest level are civilizational identities, are shaping patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the post-Cold War” (Huntington 1996, 20). However, he did not carry out a quantitative analysis of the argument. He provided only case studies and offered qualitative analysis as support. Many studies, including this one, have been conducted in response to his clash of civilizations argument, with the conflicts of the post-Cold War period being analyzed quantitatively. None of these studies has found evidence to support Huntington’s argument. The finding of this study illustrates that a difference in civilization is not sufficient on its own to understand what causes conflicts these days nor does it have a positive impact on militarized disputes.

References

• Foreign Affairs. 1996. Samuel P. Huntington’s the Clash of Civilizations? The Debate. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
• Fox, Jonathan. 2001. Two Civilizations and Ethnic Conflict: Islam and the West. Journal of Peace Research 38(4): 459-472.
• Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs 72(3): 22-49
• If Not Civilizations, What? Foreign Affairs 72(4): 186-94, 1993.
• The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1996.
• Try Again: A Reply to Russett, Oneal & Cox. Journal of Peace Research 37(5): 609-610, 2000.
• Rashid, Salim. 1997. The Clash of Civilizations? Asian Responses. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Russett, Bruce M. and John R. Oneal. 2000. A Response to Huntington. Journal of Peace Research 37(5): 611-612.
• Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Inter dependence, and International Organizations. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.

Animals with “Anti-Freeze”

Although it is not clear whether human beings took the idea of anti-freeze, i.e., adding a substance to water to prevent it from freezing, from animals, some animals living in cold climates have a substance in their blood that prevents them from freezing. When the skin or the operculum of fish that live in cold seas comes into contact with ice, their blood starts to freeze, and the fish soon die. The reason for this is the rapid increase of ice crystals in their blood. However, there are many fish species that live in cold areas despite such unfavorable conditions. Some species in these areas retreat to the deep water where the water is -1.8°C to prevent freezing. However, in Antarctica there are fish living in areas that are much colder than this. These fish can protect themselves against freezing in the very cold temperatures of Antarctica thanks to chemical substances in their blood that work like anti-freeze in a car. Could it be possible that this technique of anti-freeze has been codified in the genetic programming of fish not by a conscious Creator but merely by coincidence? Such an idea would be logically difficult to accept. The substance called AFGP (Antarctic Fish Gliko-Protein) found in the blood of fish in Antarctica works as a natural anti-freeze and helps fish survive in icy water without freezing. Special proteins synthesized by genes that have been codified by special programming are linked to ice crystals, and they are thus able to prevent ice crystals from forming in the body of the fish.

Researchers have discovered some of the genes that codify AFGP during their study on some species of fish that belong to the Notothenioidei suborder, which live in Antarctic water without freezing; these fish are the Notothenia coriiceps and the Dissostichus mawsoni. The genes that were discovered codify a protein in a substance that prevents them from freezing. This protein is manufactured in the pancreas, but is not broken down in the intestines. Researchers are still trying to identify the gene that codifies the AFGP. Once this gene has been comprehensively understood, the protein which the gene codifies can be produced artificially and inexpensively. In this way, a small amount of anti-freeze protein injected into the blood to prevent freezing could save many lives. However, for the time being, it seems like a far-fetched possibility that this gene can be inserted into a human genome. All the genes in our body are interrelated with one another, and therefore a new program that would change the formation of the blood, preventing it from completely freezing, might cause many adverse side-effects.

The Miracle of Salt

Many fish have substances that cause the freezing point of their blood to fall below zero. Scientists have determined that the most common of these substances are the salts found in body liquids, in particular sodium chloride. These salts account for an 85% reduction in the freezing point. It is not possible for fish, which are unaware of the physiology of the body liquid and the complex relations of the metabolism with the process of freezing, to have developed such a protection mechanism through evolution.

Fish are not the only animals with anti-freeze. From the world of insects, Cryptopygus antarcticus (the Antarctic springtail) and Achorutes nivicola (the snow flea) are creatures that can survive in very low temperatures. Many animals become motionless or die when the temperature dips below freezing. But the Antarctic springtail can easily move and jump around at these temperatures. The biological reason for this vivacity is the anti-freeze system of this insect. Some of them can even live in glaciers unharmed for a period of up to three years.

Waterproof Fur

The otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) has a different type of protection against cold. The otter has been hunted for its soft, thick, velvet-like fur, bringing it to the brink of extinction. This animal’s fur is such a fabulous protection that otters can swim for days without even getting wet. The thick fur protects the otter from the cold. Unlike many sea animals, the fat layer under the otter’s skin is very thin, and is thus not very helpful against cold. Instead, the One whose Mercy is Endless has granted them a thick fur that protects them from the cold.

Polar Bear Dens

When the dens of polar bears are examined, many fascinating aspects are discovered. If a female polar bear living in Antarctica is pregnant or has just given birth, she makes a den under the snow; this is the only way that she can survive. The cubs are usually born during the middle of winter. When they are born, they are hairless, sightless and very tiny. These totally vulnerable and very needy babies are born in the middle of winter and they need proper dens in order to survive. A typical den consists of a two-meter hole and a round cave half a meter in diameter. It is only about half a meter high. However, this is no ordinary shelter constructed by a simple procedure. In a place where everywhere is covered by snow and ice, this den is dug very carefully under the snow drifts, and every detail necessary for the lives of the cubs is ensured. These dens usually consist of more than one room. Despite the fact that polar bears lack knowledge of thermo-dynamics, they dig out a smaller den above the entrance, ensuring that the warm air in these rooms cannot escape. Throughout winter, snow accumulates at the entrance and on top of the den. The polar bear leaves only a small, narrow channel through this snow drift to allow the air in. The thickness of the roof constructed by the mother bear is somewhere between 75 centimeters to two meters. This roof works as a good insulator, keeping the existing heat inside.

A researcher from Oslo University, Paul Watts, placed a gadget on the ceiling of one of these dens to carefully measure the heat. His findings were surprising: while the temperature outside fell below –30 degrees, the temperature inside never fell below 2 or 3 degrees. The scientists were also amazed to discover that the mother bear constructs her den like an expert physicist, building her nest with perfect insulation. In this warm and protective setting the mother bear does not die of cold because the fat reserves in her body are sufficient for her hibernation period. However, the period of hibernation is an even more interesting issue: the metabolic rate of the mother bear slows down to save energy, thus enabling the cubs to be better nourished. Thanks to these characteristics, granted by the One whose Mercy is Endless, the fat stored in the bodies of polar bears is turned into protein over a hibernation period of seven months, feeding the cubs. This is how the polar bear survives without eating any food for such a long time. Its heart rate decelerates from 70 beats per minute to 8, and the metabolism slows down in accordance with this. As the bear does not eat any food, it does not need to defecate or urinate.

Parenthood in a White World

It seems as if penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) thumb their noses at the freezing cold. The mothers return back to cold seas shortly after laying eggs in order to feed. The mating pairs do not build nests, because there is nothing around them except snow and ice. Yet, they cannot leave their eggs on the ice, for the egg would be immediately frozen. So, while the mother is hunting for food, the father penguin takes care of the chicks over a period of three months. The fathers gather around in a group to carry, initially, the eggs, and then the chicks, holding them on their feet in order to protect them from freezing. The feet of penguins are covered with feathers, and are 80 °C warmer than the outside temperature, thus keeping the egg from freezing. The penguins form a circle with their backs facing out, and the chicks on the inside. Those fathers that happen to be located at the outer most part of the circle change places from time to time with the other penguins to protect themselves from freezing. This is necessary, because the temperature is around -50 °C.

Are such animals as we have discussed here capable of learning and thinking? Or are these abilities that are peculiar only to humans? Differentiating humans from animals along strict lines, Descartes (1596-1650), who said “cogito, ergo sum: I think, therefore, I am,” went so far as to claim that animals do not feel, let alone have an ability to think. Some biologist today argue that animals might not have the ability to think as we understand it, but they can still behave in some logical ways that are peculiar to them, and they can learn. Nevertheless, we cannot give animals credit for comprehending the need for anti-freeze in their blood, the protective characteristics of salt against freezing, how they should make their dens, or form circles to protect themselves against the cold. Rather, we could say that all these are manifestations of the most beautiful names of our Lord. One of the meanings of the 16th verse of the Surat al-Anbiya, It was not for nothing that We created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between, is that we are to understand that there is a Divine Wisdom and Insight in the creation of each and every one of the creatures of the universe.

References 

• Scott, M., The Young Oxford Book of Ecology, p. 47.
• Manisali, M., Antifirizli Baliklar, S›z›nt›, May 2000.
• Bilyap Aquaristic web site, Fischverhalten beobachten und verstehen, Jorg Vierke.
• O’Toole,C., Stidworthy, J., Mammals: The Hunters, p. 86-89.
• http://www.populerbilgi.com/genel/Fedakarlik2.php – Guinness Books, Remarkable Animals: A Unique Encyclopedia of Wildlife Wonders, p. 21.