For years, society has been experiencing a constant deviation of thought and an impropriety that has become more widespread every day, dominating almost all feelings and thoughts. Statements are exceedingly shameless, expressions overly aggressive, behaviors as mean as can be, demeanors utterly torn, and the feelings and reasoning that form the basis of this disorder as dark as what one would expect from scorpions. What are you supposed to listen to, whom can you trust, and which idea can you rely on? In this arena of quarrelsome souls—always fixated on criticism and destruction—even the most innocent thoughts and the most favorable plans and projects are sometimes chewed up between the merciless teeth of conflict and collapse, and the most sacred values are continually trampled underfoot.

What are the reasons that have caused people to lose altitude to this degree in terms of human values? What are the reasons that make us ready to prey on one another? If some are hoping to get anywhere with such impropriety, they are gravely mistaken; and if anyone is foolish enough to think that some lofty ideals can be realized this way, that too is sheer self-deception. Yet, how bitter it is that, for years, we have been through a succession of delusions and continued to make mistakes no one would have imagined. Moreover, we have compounded these mistakes by presenting what we do as great global achievements. So much so that claims of becoming a model for the world, reshaping the globe, or at the very least setting our own house in order, have become common fantasies of this period. But here we are: on one side stand broad-sweeping boasts, and on the other, a society worn down and caught in the grip of unrest.

Actually, amid such disorder, it is neither possible to improve the world’s map of thought, nor to turn our own society’s decline into advancement, nor to open new horizons for our people. In my view, from the thoughts of those depressed circles—each little more than delirium and convulsion—nothing will emerge other than chaos. One thing, however, is certain: this cannot give rise to any renewal. In fact, given that what has happened so far is an unmistakable indication of what is yet to come, it would be pointless to say much more on such a matter.

I do not claim to be analyzing a brand-new topic here; this matter has already been discussed many times in various circles and passed through the filters of diagnosis and assessment repeatedly. It has engaged the attention of many with bright intellects and powerful pens and has been examined through comprehensive surveys. It has been brought to the table on different occasions and discussed from different angles. However, none of these efforts have yielded favorable results to the expected degree—they have not. Even now, many people continue to squander their precious thoughts and intellect for acts of impropriety. They allow their knowledge, culture, courage, and logic to trail behind their emotions, and they nearly spend their lives in a constant struggle against human values.

While such individuals are already deficient in thought, empty in heart and spirituality, deeply inconsistent in reasoning, and devoid of wisdom and true knowledge, if they also possess additional vices—such as deceitfulness, ignobility, fame-seeking, and a weakness for position, status, and gain—it becomes impossible for them to follow any other course. Indeed, far from choosing a different path, people driven by unquenchable thirst and insatiable greed will persistently pursue the targets on which they are fixated, constantly seeking to satisfy this bodily hunger and thirst. Even if they occasionally rejoice in what they manage to achieve, more often than not they will writhe in regret over the opportunities they have missed. As they extinguish, one by one, the lofty sentiments of their souls—each a matchless gift bestowed upon humanity—they will continue drifting through the valleys of carnality.

Indeed, individuals who have lost their human logic and judgment to this degree—who have forfeited their conscience and the divine gifts tied to it, and who are impoverished in heart and thought— can in no way contribute to elevating the world or making it more livable, nor to the happiness of humanity; nor can they offer any benefit to their nations, let alone lead them toward new horizons. They cannot, because such people have never been able to sense their own inner depths or grasp the purpose of their existence. Furthermore, they have forgotten how to love, neglected respect, regarded virtue as a mere fantasy, and continually dreamed only of what they would gain, how they would gain it, from whom they would take it, and by which means they would ascend to the peak of prosperity. Even if, by some chance, they were to form an intention to do good, they would inevitably end up causing harm. For it has never been seen—except in the rarest of cases—that anything pure emerge from sullied souls and polluted dispositions.

Though humanity experienced deviations of thought and shifts of spirit many times before; the issue has never become a social calamity to this extent. This is because today’s human being often directs all intellectual power and reasoning toward serving the carnal self and its desires, while waging an unyielding war against truth and right guidance. Moreover, this is done with the conviction that their intellect and knowledge are sufficient for everything—and can suffice for anything.

In truth, I am not of the opinion that people today are more intelligent or more reasonable than those of the past. In a way, I even think that the so-called champions of intelligence and geniuses of reasoning in our age, when measured against earlier generations, display a thinner depth of thought and a narrower range of intellectual seriousness. Despite all the advantages promised by modern technology and scientific advances, the people of earlier generations—who did not possess even a tenth of today’s resources—were perhaps more capable, more competent, and more consistent.

Within their respective paths of thought and action—whether good or bad—each of these figures was of greater caliber and prominence in their own time. (This comparison is not meant to honor wrongdoing or tyranny, but to illustrate the depth, consistency, and clarity—however misdirected—of earlier forms of thought when set against the confusion of the present age.) Presumably, Cain was a more capable murderer than his modern counterparts; Nimrod, a more dignified despot; Korah, a bolder and more enterprising capitalist; Pharaoh, a more balanced bigot; Socrates, a more disciplined thinker; Leonardo, a deeper and more visionary artist; Shakespeare, a more imaginative and compelling author; Goethe, a more eminent observer of the human condition; Nietzsche, a more daring rebel; and Sartre, a more unreserved and uncompromising analyst of the self.

Yet today, neither the intellectuals who consider themselves completely free from superstition nor those devoted to spirituality and meaning, who believe they have grasped religion and metaphysics in all their depth, have achieved any success remotely comparable to that of their predecessors—despite all the modern means at their disposal. More than mere lack of success, both groups – the materialists whose reasoning is reduced to what their eyes can see and who seek everything within the material world, and the spiritualists who view themselves as tasked with reducing everything to abstract meaning, prove to be strikingly shallow in judgment, exceedingly indecisive in resolve and willpower, far behind those of earlier civilizations in regard for human values, and are exceedingly capricious in their whims and desires.

Each morning, they fall captive to one current, and each evening they become enamored of another sentiment; thus, always in flux, perpetually unstable. At times, they are atheistic and nihilistic; at other times capitalistic and liberal. Sometimes they are meek, bent double before powers they cannot overcome; at other times unruly and rebellious. Yet, in all cases, they remain unbalanced and without direction. It is therefore inevitable that such people will, at any moment, be swept away by a different tide and dragged into the unknown, or be crushed beneath the weight of some error. And no one will be able to save these unfortunate souls, scattered and reduced to nothing like autumn leaves blown by the winds of their dark fortune.

Presumably, those who can perceive this social derailment—perhaps better described as a kind of societal paranoia— with its looming future ramifications must have already begun to tremble at the thought. Yet no matter how much one trembles, the ideas put forward in the name of remedy and solution always circle back to doctrines like socialism, capitalism, and liberalism. Until the true center of the dysfunction and the real causes of these deviations are identified, I believe we will continue to revolve within this vicious circle, and society will never truly escape crisis.

Indeed, as society frees itself from political turmoil, it will drift into economic crises; as it overcomes military impasses, it will be dragged into administrative chaos. Within these suffocating “vicious cycles” that continually consume us, society will perish and crumble. If, in the coming days, actions continue to proceed with this same reasoning—or rather, this lack of reasoning—we will not make the slightest progress. Panels and conferences will inevitably return to the familiar dichotomy of “individual” and “state.” Debates on what to choose, a libertarian order or a statist system, a capitalist structure or a socialist administration, will never be surpassed. And afterward will come endless dialectics, endless logical games, until we finally see that we are merely tracing circles around our own egotism with so many years lost and possibilities wasted.

If you wish, let us now try to present some of the matters that humanity, over the past few centuries, ought to have addressed but, for various reasons, has failed to accomplish.

Despite numerous attempts at renewal over the past one or two centuries, societies have struggled to establish coherent moral systems rooted in their own cultural foundations and have been unable to develop and systematize sound metaphysical frameworks. They have not produced artistic visions capable of reflecting the inner world in relation to God, the universe, and the human being; nor have they succeeded in developing models of education and moral formation aligned with the deeper roots of their spiritual heritage.

At the heart of nearly every moral system lie three essential elements: sound belief, a well-established sense of freedom, and a deeply rooted sense of responsibility. All of these are closely connected to metaphysical thought. In a society where belief is rejected, individuals are deprived of their sense of freedom, and where responsibility is stripped from the heart, it becomes impossible to speak meaningfully about metaphysics. And without metaphysics, morality itself cannot survive.

When societies fail to develop a coherent metaphysical framework, and when individuals cannot shape their inner identity in light of deeper meaning, the result is inevitable. Over time, they lose their spiritual vitality and guiding beliefs, and eventually they struggle even to sustain their moral and cultural continuity.

Yet we ourselves have dried up the once-abundant sources of life that nourished us throughout history, and having done so, we turned almost entirely to reliance on borrowed ideas. So much so that the strange notion of nationalism we brought from all corners of the world and tried to impose on everyone, along with peculiar philosophies of life and distorted understandings of art that wound the spirit, have confused our collective memory. By extinguishing our own torches that had been shining for thousands of years, we surrendered to darkness, much like bats retreating from the light.

Now, what we need is not this or that person, nor this or that philosophy, but a vital prescription that can restore our lost spirit—one that will rescue us from the whirlpools of uncertainty and guide us toward a renewed love of truth, a renewed understanding of science, and a deeper mode of thought, all within the framework of our own moral foundations, understanding, and inherited wisdom. This prescription is drawn from metaphysical reflections distilled from centuries of lived experience, an otherworldly-oriented philosophy of life, and a voice grounded in Prophethood that speaks to the reality of God, the universe, and the human being. I believe that until we reclaim these lost values, it will not be possible for us to find our own style, determine our true position, or free ourselves from deviations of thought.

Picture a college student named Sam. He signs up for clubs but drops out halfway. He starts group projects but ghosts his teammates. Deadlines come and go. When asked why, he replies with a resigned expression: “My parents were always super critical,” or “My family’s just messed up—I guess that’s how I turned out.”

Sam’s story is not uncommon. He’s not uninterested in life; he just feels stuck. Rather than searching for new paths, he leans on his family history as an explanation—and unintentionally, an excuse.

It’s natural to reflect on how our family history or ancestral patterns have shaped us. But using our past as the only lens to interpret our present can limit us. When we focus solely on what went wrong before, we might miss the opportunities for growth that exist now. Insight into our past should empower us, not confine us.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy, emphasized how early childhood experiences shape adult behavior. His ideas form the foundation of concepts like intergenerational trauma—the idea that emotional wounds, coping mechanisms, and behavioral patterns can pass down through families. This lens can help us develop compassion for ourselves and others, but it also risks fostering passivity. If we see ourselves only as products of our parents and their pain, we may begin to believe we have no control over our future.

Thankfully, modern approaches in psychology focus not just on where we’ve been, but where we’re going. Approaches like Reality Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) emphasize present awareness and personal agency.

Reality Therapy invites individuals to ask: Are my current behaviors helping me meet my needs? If not, what can I change? It’s not about dwelling on what went wrong in the past— it’s about making better choices today. Similarly, Solution-Focused Therapy shifts attention to strengths and possibilities, helping individuals build on what’s already working rather than endlessly analyzing what’s broken.

CBT, one of the most widely used therapeutic methods, teaches that while our thoughts may be shaped by past experiences, they can be consciously restructured. It highlights the link between thoughts, emotions, and actions, showing us, that change is possible when we challenge negative beliefs like “I’m not good enough” or “Nothing ever works out.”

In CBT, therapists collaborate with clients to teach tools like cognitive restructuring—identifying and replacing distorted thinking patterns—and behavioral activation, which encourages small, meaningful actions that reinforce healthier thought patterns. The underlying message is simple but powerful—and it ties directly to the question posed in our title: we are not stuck with our past. With intention and effort, we can change how we think and live.

Broader reflections on responsibility and growth

Psychology isn’t the only field that values present-moment responsibility. Across cultures and traditions, we find a similar theme: that change begins not in our past, but in our choices today. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that individuals must rise above the influence of past karma through present action. Rumi writes, “Don’t get lost in your pain, know that one day your pain will become your cure.” The Qur’an reminds believers, “Indeed, God will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” In the teachings of Jesus, personal transformation is often illustrated through parables that emphasize repentance, forgiveness, and renewal. Even Stoic philosophers like Epictetus emphasized that while we cannot control what has happened, we are responsible for how we respond now.

These insights mirror modern psychology’s message: transformation begins with self-awareness and conscious effort. While our backgrounds influence us, they don’t define us. True empowerment comes when we recognize that we are not stuck— we are authors of the next chapter.

Conclusion

Acknowledging our past is important, but it shouldn’t hold us back. Consider Sam again. What if he began to question the narrative that his family history defines him? With support, reflection, and action, he could start reframing his story—not by denying his struggles, but by deciding they don’t get the final say. Like many of us, Sam has the power to take ownership of his present and move forward with clarity and intention.

Modern psychology and time-honored spiritual and philosophical traditions alike remind us that personal growth is not about blaming the past but about reclaiming the present. Therapeutic tools like goal setting, reframing negative beliefs, and behavioral activation offer practical paths forward. Cultural and spiritual traditions echo this call, inviting us to act, reflect, and renew.

So—are you stuck with your past? Perhaps a better question is: what story will you write next?

Do the following sound familiar?

• Dad, I can follow the lesson video on my computer while playing on my phone.
• I am listening to you, honey! I just need to send this email.
• Yes, I totally agree! But could you repeat what you said one more time, please?

Yes, these are common aspects of our daily conversations. Many go through life assuming they are “intelligent” enough to juggle multiple tasks at once, while others constantly race against time, trying to complete as many chores as possible—almost as if there were an ultimate finish line. “Multitasking” has unfortunately become so widespread despite all the scientific evidence that the human brain is not wired to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. A cursory search on the Internet would present the unequivocal conclusion that what we do in these instances is not actually “multitasking,” but rather “task-switching.” As with any situation where we act against our innate nature—designed with purpose—dysfunctions arise, setting off a chain reaction that affects many aspects of life.

What happened to the age-old advice that parents should spend “quality time” with their children, giving them their full attention? Has the importance of establishing and maintaining eye contact in a conversation diminished? Have we come to cherish being constantly chased by time, burdened with endless tasks imposed on us, rather than taking control and steering it toward the goals we truly value? These are just a few of the many questions we, as human beings, need to ask ourselves to reset our lifestyles, striving to have meaningful, peaceful lives worthy of living with admirable outcomes.

What happens if we don’t rectify our lifestyles? How much does “multitasking” chip away from our personal, social, and professional lives? Let’s start with our personal lives. If we strive to do things the right way by giving them the time and attention they deserve, then “multitasking” becomes a source of stress, as we constantly struggle to keep up with multiple tasks at once without overlooking anything. This very reason is also highly likely to generate anxiety since we worry whether we are doing things correctly and completing them as expected. Finally, if we spend most of our time juggling small tasks that require different types of activities and lead to diverse outcomes, we end up undermining our ability to focus on a single, more comprehensive task—one that demands a much longer period of concentration than needed for our “multi tasks.” It is well known that stress, anxiety, and low concentration trigger a chain reaction of physical conditions, including elevated blood pressure and increased heart rate, and contribute to a long list of illnesses.

Let’s continue with our social lives. Here is a common scene in today’s families, the innermost circle of social life. Family members sit together in the same living room, each absorbed in their phones, scrolling through social media posts that have no relevance to their own family. Everyone is immersed in their own “alternative world,” disconnected from real life, spending all their time ensuring they don’t miss a single detail of others’ lives. Meanwhile, they may overlook a child’s genuine need for attention and care from their parents. The entire interaction consists of a few brief moments of superficial communication that lead nowhere. Each person is left to experience their own joys and sorrows alone, making their own decisions without support. Over time, this erodes the bonds of love and respect within the family. Doesn’t this resemble a chain reaction, like the one that leads to an atom bomb exploding within the family?

Now, let’s turn to the outer circle of social life: friends. When gathered together, only a couple of friends actually listen to the one speaking, while the rest are absorbed in their phones. Then, they switch roles—the ones who were distracted start talking, while the others retreat into their screens. A series of fragmented conversations unfold, each failing to reach a conclusion and, as a result, depriving us of the cognitive joy that comes from a sense of wholeness or completeness. In other words, it becomes a hodgepodge of collective monologues, where no one is truly trying to understand one another. Instead, they speak just for the sake of talking, mistaking this for “socializing with good friends.” No one is giving the attention needed to fully understand a topic of conversation and everything spoken is forgotten the minute goodbyes are said. Once again, love, respect, and care among these so-called “true friends” begin to fade, weakening the bonds essential for building and sustaining a close-knit circle of friendship.

One might assume that professional life is the one domain where multitasking proves valuable. After all, productivity and task completion are what matter most in the workplace. Surely, multitasking would support these goals, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. On the contrary, in addition to its three common effects in personal life—stress, anxiety, and low concentration—multitasking triggers chain reactions that can significantly harm the workplace climate and productivity. Let’s begin with the most commonly expected “benefit” of “multitasking”: productivity. A quick internet search reveals studies showing that when employees are unable to focus on a single task for ten minutes, twenty minutes, or thirty minutes because they have to answer phone calls or attend to clients at the same time, companies suffer significant losses in productivity.

A more subtle consequence in the workplace arises when an employee, overwhelmed by the pressure to multitask, abandons their quality standards and “takes the liberty of” making abundant mistakes. In most office environments, these mistakes do not go unnoticed by colleagues. They eventually have to be corrected by these colleagues, creating extra workload for them. When this pattern persists, it inevitably creates tension among colleagues and disrupts an otherwise warm and cooperative work environment. One does not need to be a fortuneteller to predict what kind of a domino effect such tension would have on the harmonious functioning of such a workplace.

To conclude, after reflecting on the so-called virtues of multitasking, the choice is yours—struggle with constant fragmentation or find peace of mind by focusing on one task at a time.

Especially now that a wide array of technology is at our disposal, we strive to be more efficient at work or school. We also try to squeeze the most out of our leisure time by chasing various forms of entertainment at once. For this, most of us multitask (or at least claim to do so). Put simply, multitasking is completing multiple tasks simultaneously, such as listening to the news while reading a book. When we multitask, we may be filled with a sense of pride, since it’s usually seen as a sign of high intelligence. Being such a popular phenomenon, the excruciating question is whether multitasking is really possible or not.

Naturally, this article avoids the highly scientific aspects of this neurologically complex topic and aims to answer this question for the layperson. Following this approach, the term ‘multitasking’ is used in this article for tasks that necessitate conscious thought. For example, walking and talking at the same time is not considered multitasking, since walking does not require conscious thought; rather, it is accomplished through “muscle memory.” The definition also excludes activities that are not simultaneously going on with another activity, but exclusively on their own time in a day, week, or month. Therefore, dividing the time in a day among multiple activities, such as spending an hour reading, another hour watching TV, still another writing, and perhaps repeating each of these tasks on its own time in the same day is not considered multitasking.

Going back to our vital question: is multitasking really possible? In other words, can we easily handle multiple tasks and switch between them without sacrificing time and accuracy? To answer this question, we need to first understand the brain’s executive control over cognitive processes. This executive control can be seen as the control tower that orchestrates the brain’s countless varied cognitive operations while completing tasks. Moralis and Dinan (2022) list them as including, but not limited to, planning, self-monitoring, accessing working memory, time management, and organization. For their study, Rubinstein, Meyer, and Evans (2001) proposed a theoretical model that divided these control processes into two main stages involved in task switching: goal shifting and rule activation. They defined goal shifting as the stage that keeps track of the individual tasks and informs the other components of the system about what the current task is. In other words, this is the stage in which one realizes where they stand in the sequence of tasks at hand, and initiates, executes, and terminates individual tasks. The rule activation stage followed goal shifting and was defined as resetting the mind by first disabling the prior task’s rules and then turning on the new task’s rules. For example, if we switch from playing tennis to basketball, the objectives, rules, strategies, and a bunch of other things need to change in our mind. These researchers’ findings from a series of experiments supported the model that has goal shifting and rule activation stages for task switching. While a number of factors such as task familiarity and rule complexity influenced the magnitude of task switching costs, results consistently showed that there was always a price to be paid in terms of time and error rate when switching between tasks.

While the cost per switch may be relatively small, they can add up to large amounts when people switch back and forth repeatedly between tasks. Therefore, multitasking, which seems like a means of efficiency on the surface, ultimately becomes more costly timewise and involves more error (“Multitasking: Switching costs,” 2006). Meyer, one of the three researchers mentioned above, says in an interview on their research, “People in a work setting who are banging away on word processors at the same time they have to answer phones and talk to their co-workers or bosses – they are doing switches all the time. Not being able to concentrate for, say, tens of minutes at a time, may mean it’s costing a company as much as 20 to 40 percent” (Anderson, 2001).

One can easily find many studies on multitasking, all of which document the inefficiency of multitasking. This is because our brains are wired to perform singular tasks rather than multitask. Despite its superb structure and highly sophisticated functions that we have only begun to understand through advances in brain research, the human brain is curiously not designed for multitasking. In other words, we are expected to make the most out of our experiences that require conscious thought rather than try to become an efficient machine-like human that processes information superficially in a very short amount of time. Doesn’t this design make total sense for the only species in the world that is capable of contemplating and meaning-making about the entire existence? From another angle, multitasking takes a heavy toll on our personal, social, professional, and educational lives. This is another crucial topic in and of itself that deserves a separate discussion in another article.

References

• Anderson, P. (2001, August 5). Study: Multitasking is counterproductive. CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/05/multitasking.focus/
• Moralis, S. & Dinan, S. (2022, February 27). The myth of multitasking. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-therapeutic-perspective/202202/the-myth-multitasking
• Multitasking: Switching costs. (2006, March 20). American Psychological Association. Retrieved July 5, 2024, from https://www.apa.org/topics/research/multitasking#:~:text=Although%20switch%20costs%20may%20be,end%20and%20involve%20more%20error
• Rubinstein, J.S., Meyer, D.E., & Evans, J.E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763-797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu

In the sometimes-stormy landscape of life, hope, a tremendous and transforming force within the human psyche, rises as a beacon of light. Take Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate for example. She has become a global symbol of hope and resilience. Despite being shot for advocating for girls’ education, she continued her fight for education rights. Malala once said, “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful” [1]. Her unwavering hope and courage inspire millions worldwide, showing that hope can prevail even in the face of extreme adversity.

The essence of hope plays a vital role in the journey of healing, offering individuals a clear path toward recovery by reshaping their thinking and bolstering their emotional strength. Research shows that hope acts as a catalyst for restructuring our cognitive processes, breaking the cycle of negative thoughts [2]. Cultivating a hopeful mindset leads to more positive and adaptive thinking patterns [3]. This shift in cognition enables individuals to view obstacles differently, identify solutions, and envision a future brimming with opportunities, thereby easing the cognitive burdens of despair.

The power of hope rests in its potential to drive people to make positive behavioral adjustments. We are more inclined to engage in goal-directed acts when we have hope, looking for opportunities for personal progress and positive transformation [4]. This desire becomes a driving force in the treatment of hopelessness, pushing people to actively participate in therapeutic procedures and understand well-being-promoting lifestyles.

During times of emotional upheaval, hope functions as a stabilizing force. Individuals who retain a positive attitude display increased emotional resilience, allowing them to handle the emotional disruptions with better adaptability [5]. Hope provides individuals with the emotional fortitude they need to weather setbacks, cope with stress, and recover from adversity, promoting a more robust emotional well-being. It promotes the development and application of coping skills, which are critical in navigating life’s challenges. Individuals who receive social support, practice mindfulness techniques, or engage in creative outlets are more likely to use adaptive coping mechanisms. These mechanisms become essential tools, assisting individuals in effectively navigating the complexities of personal struggles.

One of the most significant advantages of hope is its ability to reduce emotions of powerlessness that frequently accompany sadness and despair [6]. A hopeful mindset empowers people by creating faith in their ability to affect positive change. This sense of power and agency counteracts the paralyzing effects of hopelessness. In fact, the development of hope in psychology entails a variety of treatment strategies aimed at promoting an optimistic outlook and belief in the possibility of positive transformation [7]. Snyder’s Hope Theory [8] for example, focuses on hope as a cognitive process that incorporates goal-setting. According to this notion, hope is not just a passive feeling, but an active, dynamic mindset that influences how people approach goals and overcome difficulties. This theory emphasizes pathway thinking (defined as planning to reach goals) and agency thinking (a desire to pursue goals) as fundamental components of hope. Goal-setting is a common therapeutic strategy in which individuals collaborate with therapists to establish realistic and attainable objectives. Breaking down larger goals into smaller, more achievable tasks fosters a sense of success and progress, which reinforces hope.

Another strategy involves positive visualization [9], encouraging people to envision a future where their aspirations are realized. This mental rehearsal can enhance motivation and foster a more positive outlook. Additionally, cognitive-behavioral therapies challenge and reframe negative thought patterns, helping individuals to identify and replace skewed thinking with more balanced and hopeful perspectives [10]. Theology emphasizing hope often aligns with humanistic and existential ideologies that highlight an individual’s potential for growth and self-determination. According to this concept, individuals can surmount challenges and lead meaningful lives. This therapeutic approach empowers individuals to actively shape their futures, fostering a sense of agency and purpose.

Snyder’s Hope Theory has been used as a paradigm for understanding and encouraging hope as a vital resource for personal development and well-being in a variety of sectors, including clinical psychology, education, and coaching [11]. In both Sufi tradition and Snyder’s Hope Theory, there is a shared emphasis on a forward-looking, hopeful perspective toward the future. The Sufi concept of “raja,” [12] aligns with certain aspects of Snyder’s ideas. “Raja” translates to “hope” or “aspiration” in Sufism, embodying the belief in maintaining hope and trust in the Divine amidst adversity. This Sufi perspective pursues closeness to the Divine and enduring challenges with patience and faith in Divine mercy. Yet, the concept of “raja” entails more than just optimism; it entails a profound purpose and significance derived from spiritual beliefs.

For a Sufi, Raja signifies patiently awaiting the fulfillment of heartfelt desires, embracing the acceptance of good deeds, and seeking forgiveness for sins. This hope and expectation stem from the belief that individuals bear sole responsibility for their mistakes and sins, while acknowledging that all goodness originates from God’s mercy. To avoid being ensnared by vices and arrogance regarding their virtues, Sufi initiates strive to draw closer to God through continuous acts of seeking forgiveness, prayer, avoidance of wrongdoing, and performing virtuous deeds.

Raja, hope or expectation differs significantly from a mere wish. While a wish is a desire that may or may not come true, hope or expectation represents an active pursuit by the initiate through lawful means toward their desired goal. The believer strives with a profound insight and awareness, seeking to open all pathways to Divine grace and assistance. Hope entails a steadfast belief that, akin to God’s attributes of knowledge, will, and power, His mercy encompasses all creation, with the anticipation of being embraced in His special mercy [13]. We must not reject this mercy!

The Impact of Hope on the Brain and Heart

Hope has significant scientific impacts on both our hearts and brains, influencing our physical health and mental well-being in profound ways. In the brain, hopeful thinking can stimulate neuroplasticity, allowing individuals to adapt better to new situations and recover from brain injuries more effectively. Hope and positive expectations are also associated with the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, motivation, and reward, which enhances mood, motivation, and cognitive function. Additionally, hope can mitigate the effects of stress by reducing cortisol production, the stress hormone, leading to decreased anxiety, improved memory, and better overall mental health. Hopeful individuals tend to have better problem-solving skills and are more creative in finding solutions to challenges, as hope fosters a positive mindset that encourages persistence and resilience [14].

In terms of cardiovascular health, hope and optimism are linked to better outcomes. Hopeful individuals have a lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and better heart rate variability, which is a marker of heart health. A hopeful outlook can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by lowering the strain on the cardiovascular system due to its stress-reducing effects. Patients with a hopeful attitude often recover better and more quickly from cardiac events like heart attacks or surgeries, as hope improves adherence to medical advice and lifestyle changes, enhancing recovery rates [15].

Overall, hope contributes to enhanced immune function, making individuals more resistant to infections and illnesses by alleviating chronic stress, which can weaken immune function. Research indicates that hopeful and optimistic individuals tend to live longer, as hope fosters healthier lifestyles, better stress management, and stronger social connections, all factors associated with increased lifespan. Additionally, hope is a protective factor against mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, fostering resilience and helping individuals cope better with adversity. By fostering hope, individuals can experience a range of benefits that contribute to a healthier, longer, and more fulfilling life.

From Theory to Application

Incorporating Snyder’s Hope Theory into daily life involves actively cultivating hope through goal setting, pathways thinking, and agency thinking. Start by defining specific, meaningful goals that motivate and inspire you, breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps to make them more achievable. Develop pathways thinking by identifying multiple routes to reach your goals, planning ahead for potential obstacles, and brainstorming solutions. Foster agency thinking by believing in your abilities, reflecting on past successes, and using positive self-talk and visualization to maintain enthusiasm and determination. Cultivate a hopeful mindset through regular positive visualization and focusing on positive outcomes, maintaining a solution-oriented approach when facing challenges.

Engage in daily reflection by journaling your progress, celebrating successes, and reflecting on challenges to reinforce pathways and agency thinking. Seek social support by building a network of supportive and positive individuals who encourage your goals and provide valuable feedback and encouragement. Practice self-care by maintaining a balance between working towards your goals and taking care of your physical and emotional well-being, using mindfulness and relaxation techniques to manage stress. Lastly, embrace change and be flexible, adjusting your goals and pathways as needed to adapt to new circumstances and maintain hope even when things don’t go as planned.

Integrating the concept of “raja” into this process adds a spiritual dimension that deepens resilience and optimism. Raja involves placing trust in Divine benevolence, encouraging a sense of hope and patience even during difficult times. This trust can bolster pathways thinking by fostering a belief in multiple ways to achieve spiritual and personal goals, supported by Divine guidance. Similarly, it enhances agency thinking by reinforcing the conviction that personal efforts are complemented by Divine support. Practices such as prayer, meditation, and acts of charity, which are central to raja, can be incorporated into daily routines to strengthen spiritual connection and emotional resilience. By combining the practical strategies of Hope Theory with the spiritual essence of raja, individuals can navigate life’s challenges with a fortified sense of purpose, optimism, and inner peace.

In recognizing the profound scientific impacts of hope on our hearts and brains, we must also acknowledge the essential role of the Divine in this equation. The power of hope is not merely a psychological construct but is deeply intertwined with spiritual beliefs and trust in a Higher Power. The sense of Divine support and guidance offers an unparalleled source of strength and comfort, particularly in times of adversity. This divine connection can amplify the benefits of hope, providing a foundation of faith that bolsters our mental and physical resilience. As we navigate life’s challenges, integrating a sense of divine hope can enhance our ability to maintain a positive outlook, foster perseverance, and ultimately lead to a healthier, more fulfilling life. In essence, we cannot overlook the transformative power of believing in a benevolent force that aids us in our journey, making hope not just a human trait but a spiritual anchor.

I foresee a future where healing is holistic, honoring the subtle interplay between the mind, heart, and soul by embracing both psychological and spiritual elements. As we aim for total well-being, this integration offers a more profound sense of hope—one that transcends cultural, religious, and psychological borders, fostering a harmonious approach to mending hopelessness and despair in our diverse and linked world. Hope emerges as a transformational force in the fabric of mental well-being, with numerous benefits for persons suffering from anxiety and depression. The power of hope transcends traditional boundaries, from changing cognitive processes to encouraging emotional resilience and influencing beneficial behavioral changes. Recognizing and developing hope becomes not simply a tactic, but an obligation, providing individuals with a powerful antidote to the difficulties that frequently accompany our life journey.

“Fear and hope are two of the greatest gifts of God that He may implant in a believer’s heart. If there is a gift greater than these, it is that one should preserve the balance between fear and hope and then use them as two wings of light with which to reach God.” – Fethullah Gulen

References

• “Malala’s Story.” Malala Fund. Accessed June 13, 2024. https://malala.org/malalas-story/.
• Snyder, C. R. The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York: Free Press, 2003.
• Gulen, Fethullah. Key concepts in the practice of Sufism: Emerald Hills of the heart. Translated by Ali Unal. Tughra Books, 1998.
• Rand, Kevin L., and Kaitlin K. Touza. “Hope Theory.” The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, 3rd Edition, March 7, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.013.25.
• Rand, Kevin L., and Jennifer S. Cheavens. “Hope Theory.” The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, July 30, 2009, 322–34. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0030.
• Snyder, C.R., Kevin L. Rand, and David R. Sigmon. “Hope Theory.” Oxford Handbooks Online, November 6, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199399314.013.3.
• Snyder, C.R., and David B. Feldman. “Hope for the Many.” Handbook of Hope, 2000, 389–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-012654050-5/50023-3.
• Snyder, C. R. The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York: Free Press, 2003.
• “The Shape of Good Hope: Cultivating Reasonable Aspirations.” Social Happiness, January 18, 2012, 135–48. https://doi.org/10.46692/9781847429216.011.
• Colla, Rachel, Paige Williams, Lindsay G. Oades, and Jesus Camacho-Morles. “‘A New Hope’ for Positive Psychology: A Dynamic Systems Reconceptualization of Hope Theory.” Frontiers, January 17, 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.809053/full.
• “Snyder’s Hope Theory Cultivating Aspiration in Your Life.” MindTools. Accessed June 13, 2024. https://www.mindtools.com/aov3izj/snyders-hope-theory.
• Gulen, Fethullah. Key concepts in the practice of Sufism: Emerald Hills of the heart. Translated by Ali Unal. Tughra Books, 1998.
• Gulen, M. Fethullah. Fountain Magazine. Issue 67 / January – February 2009
• “Scientists Find out How Hope Protects the Brain.” Big Think, April 19, 2022. https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/scientists-find-out-how-hope-protects-the-brain/.
• Aase Schaufel, Margrethe, Jan Erik Nordrehaug, and Kirsti Malterud. “Hope in Action—Facing Cardiac Death: A Qualitative Study of Patients with Life-Threatening Disease.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 6, no. 1 (January 2011): 5917. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v6i1.5917.

Throughout history religion has, and continues to, occupy a powerful position in people’s lives. Despite doubts raised by philosophers and scientists, religion has thrived in every culture for thousands of years with over 85 percent of the world’s population currently subscribing to some form of religious belief. While this is so, there are many who are critical of religious traditions, especially with respect to certain rituals, which they find strange: fasting all day, going long distances to visit a sanctuary, circumambulating a building, and of course offering sacrifices are among such practices.

Many Islamic scholars have defined worship as submission to God with love and reverence and seeking nearness to Him by doing what He has commanded. Well, what is the place of such religious practices, which look strange to some, in our lives? How do we, as human beings, relate to the notion we call faith?

Neuroscience findings that have emerged in recent years show that we have a very fundamental relationship with faith – and therefore with such acts of worship. Researchers who explore the psychology and neuroscience of religion are shedding light on why, and how, religious belief endures. Neurotheologians contend that the human brain’s structure and operation predispose us to have faith in God. They suggest that God’s biological substrate is located in the limbic system, the brain’s emotion center. According to Rhawn Joseph, a renowned neurotheologian, the limbic system contains “God neurons” and “God neurotransmitters” (Joseph, 2001). The hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus are among the limbic structures that have been linked to religious conviction. Neurotheologians cite alterations in these regions in functional MRI scans of subjects practicing religious meditation. They argue that if thinking about God alters brain function, there must be an inherent neural drive to believe in God. A study published in 2009 demonstrated that religious thoughts activate the region of the brain involved in interpreting others’ emotions and intentions known as “theory of mind” (Azar, 2010; Kapogiannis et al., 2009).

Thinking about God, it has been found, is akin to thinking about an authority figure, like one’s parents. The difference is related to contemplative practices, such as meditation and prayer, which can alter the brain’s wiring in regular practitioners (Slagter et al., 2011). When the brain activity of long-term Buddhist meditators was monitored during meditation with fMRI and EEG techniques, it has been found that they possess a more robust and well-organized attention system than novice meditators. Essentially, meditation, as well as other contemplative spiritual practices, improve attention and deactivates brain regions responsible for self-focus (Davidson & Lutz, 2008).

For the first time in history, we are gaining insight into spiritual experiences as not being separate from the human body but rather intertwined with human matter, specifically the brain’s matter. Consequently, matter and spirit are no longer seen as opposing forces but rather as interconnected, if not identical (Delio, 2003).

Hamer’s research does not aim to prove the existence of God, which falls within the purview of religion, but rather to demonstrate that spirituality is a genuine phenomenon that can be defined and measured. As Hamer views it, spirituality is rooted in genetics while religion derives from memes – the cultural equivalent of genes – ideas, values, or behavioral patterns passed from one generation to the next through non-genetic means, often by imitation. He posits that religion is influenced by environmental factors while spirituality is influenced by nature (Goldman, 2004; Hamer, 2005).

These cognitions share a common thread that leads us to perceive the world as deliberately designed by someone or something. Young children, for instance, often believe that even minor aspects of the natural world were created with a purpose. If you inquire why a collection of rocks is sharp, they may say, “So animals won’t sit on them and break them.” When asked about the reason for the existence of rivers, they may answer, “So we can go fishing” (Kelemen, 2004). Research suggests that adults also tend to seek meaning particularly during times of uncertainty.

Neuroscientific studies lend credence to the notion that the brain has an innate inclination to believe. This inclination appears to be distributed throughout the brain and likely stems from neural pathways (Kapogiannis et al., 2009). This aligns with the Islamic principle of the “original pattern,” which refers to the innate disposition that God has instilled in human beings. “So set your whole being upon the Religion as one of pure faith. This is the original pattern belonging to God on which He has originated humankind. No change can there be in God’s creation. This is the upright, ever-true Religion, but most of the people do not know” (Qur’an 30:30).

Spiritual beliefs may also contribute to a longer and healthier life. A significant body of research indicates that religious individuals have a longer lifespan, are less prone to depression, are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and are even more likely to attend dental appointments more regularly (Inzlicht & Tullett, 2010; 2011; McCullough & Willoughby, 2009).

Religion can also serve as a crucial tool for facilitating large, cooperative societies. The continued prevalence and importance of religion across cultures can largely be attributed to its use as a social mechanism. Religion is one of the primary methods by which societies encourage unrelated individuals to treat each other with kindness (Norenzayan et al., 2016). Research conducted in 15 diverse societies found that individuals who practiced a world religion displayed greater fairness towards strangers in economic games than non-religious individuals (Henrich et al., 2010).

The Holy Qur’an emphasizes the importance of combining belief with good deeds, referring to true Muslims as “those who believe and do good deeds” (e.g., Qur’an 2:277; 4:173; 10:4, 10:9, 13:29; 19:96). Virtuous deeds serve as the guiding principle for Muslim behavior, and the concept of a “giving culture” is fundamental to comprehensive development in Islam. Therefore, there are various ways to promote charitable behavior and donations among Muslims. Sacrifice, or Qurban, is a significant method of charitable behavior in Islam. It involves sacrificing (usually) a sheep or a cow during a specific time of the year, and the Qur’an orders that the meat be eaten while also feeding the poor who live in contentment and humility (Qur’an 22:36). Muslims are prescribed to keep one-third of the share, and donate the remaining two. Although it is a demanding practice, many Muslims follow this order each year.

One of the primary purposes of the Qurban practice in Islam is to cultivate piety and increase believers’ consciousness of God. As the Qur’an states, it is not the physical offering of the sacrificial animals that reaches God but rather the devotion and piety of the individuals who offer them (Qur’an 22:37). The practice is meant to bring believers closer to God and strengthen their relationship with Him as the word “Qurban” itself is derived from a root word meaning “closeness.”

Overall, Islam emphasizes the importance of improving one’s relationship with God and with all of His creation. The Qur’anic verses emphasize the significance of doing good deeds and being aware of God’s presence in all aspects of life. This focus on piety and spiritual awareness may explain the prevalence of religious practices that promote prosocial behaviors, charitable giving among Muslims, and the relationship with our Maker. Thus, with the practice of sacrifice/qurban we fulfil our nature of being as we are predisposed to believe in God and develop a closer relationship with him.

References

• Azar, B. (2010). A reason to believe. Monitor on Psychology, 41(11), 53-56.
• Davidson, R. J., & Lutz, A. (2008). Buddha’s brain: Neuroplasticity and meditation [in the spotlight]. IEEE signal processing magazine, 25(1), 176-174.
• Delio I. (2003). Are we wired for God? New Theology Review, 16, 31-43.
• Goldman, M. A. (2004). The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired Into Our Genes.
• Hamer, D. H. (2005). The God gene: How faith is hardwired into our genes. Anchor.
• Henrich, J., Ensminger, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Barrett, C., Bolyanatz, A., … & Ziker, J. (2010). Markets, religion, community size, and the evolution of fairness and punishment. Science, 327(5972), 1480-1484.
• Inzlicht, M., & Tullett, A. M. (2010). Reflecting on God: Religious primes can reduce neurophysiological response to errors. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1184-1190.
• Inzlicht, M., Tullett, A. M., & Good, M. (2011). Existential neuroscience: a proximate explanation of religion as flexible meaning and palliative. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1(3), 244-251.
• Joseph R. (2001). The limbic system and the soul: evolution and the neuroanatomy of religious experience. Zygon, 36,105-136.
• Kapogiannis, D., Barbey, A. K., Su, M., Zamboni, G., Krueger, F., & Grafman, J. (2009). Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(12), 4876-4881.
• Kelemen, D. (2004). Are children “intuitive theists”? Reasoning about purpose and design in nature. Psychological Science, 15(5), 295-301.
• McCullough, M. E., & Willoughby, B. L. (2009). Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications. Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 69.
• Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2016). The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39, e1.
• Slagter, H. A., Davidson, R. J., & Lutz, A. (2011). Mental training as a tool in the neuroscientific study of brain and cognitive plasticity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 5, 17.

“The fool’s heart is on the tip of their tongue; the wise’s tongue is in the extreme bastion of their chest.”
M. Fethullah Gülen [1]

Throughout human history, numerous writers, philosophers, scientists, and religious scholars across different eras, geographies, and cultures have arrived at a common point about interpreting society and people. This finding—long known as the “audacity of ignorance”—has only recently been addressed scientifically.

Two American social psychology professors, David Alan Dunning and Justin Kruger, conducted social experiments to scientifically prove Charles Darwin’s theory “Ignorance augments one’s self-confidence more than true knowledge.” In Dunning and Kruger’s experiments, participants were given four tests in the areas of humor, grammar, and logic. They were then asked to evaluate their own performance and estimate how many questions they would have answered correctly. The results revealed that participants who performed poorly on the tests rated their own performance above average. The researchers called this the “double burden” of unskilled people and stated that it was due to the individual’s lack of ability to evaluate their own knowledge and experience. According to them, the main problem was that they were “unskilled and did not know they lacked proficiency” [2].

Dunning and Kruger formulated their results as follows:

1. Incompetent people always overestimate their own abilities.
2. They do not realize the extent of their own inadequacies.
3. Because of their ignorance, they do not feel the need to improve their knowledge and skills.
4. They consistently underestimate the superior qualities of others.

The study also found that the best performers were the humblest who underestimated their knowledge and abilities [3].

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is two-sided: Unqualified people exaggerate their own knowledge and abilities; and on the flipside, people who are truly experts in their field tend to behave humble and downplay their experience and abilities [4].

Since experiments in the positive sciences have measurable parameters, their results are more reliable; human psychology is much harder to study, as the number of variables affecting the outcome is exceptionally high. Therefore, research in this field must be more extensive and eliminate the parameters that affect the outcome by deploying objective criteria.

In a study on the Dunning-Kruger effect in Southern Illinois University aviation students, students were tested on both grammar and piloting knowledge. The results of the study supported the DK effect and revealed that students with low scores overestimated their abilities, while students with high scores underestimated their abilities [5].

In a 2018 study examining the development of overconfidence in new hires, it was observed that the self-confidence of people who exhibited a humble attitude at their hire was far ahead of their performance with little experience. As they continued to gain experience, their self-confidence first fell and then surged again in proportion to their performance [6].

In 2021, another study attempted to prove the existence of the Dunning-Kruger effect using electroencephalography (EEG), which records the electrical signals in the brain. Participants in the bottom quartile overestimated their percentile and participants in the top quartile underestimated their actual scores. In the experiment, where the reaction times of individuals at these two levels were also measured, it was found that those in the lower quartile reacted faster, while those in the upper quartile reacted slower. It was also observed that dissimilar mental processes occurred in the brains of these two groups during the evaluation [7].

In another recent study, the existence of the DK effect was tested under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study surveyed 2,487 participants, asking them about their level of education, sources of information, and COVID-19. Finally, the participants were asked how many questions they could have answered correctly. Poor performers’ self-estimates were disproportionate to their actual level of knowledge and much higher than the overall average. They were also found to have lower levels of education than other participants and to prefer social media and mass media as sources of information [8].

If the person under the Dunning-Kruger Effect realizes their ignorance and gains knowledge and experience, they can overcome the negative effects of the phenomenon. There are four main periods of self-confidence in this process:

Mount Stupid: This is when the Dunning-Kruger effect is at its peak, when people are pretentious in their own knowledge on a subject about which they have meager information.

Valley of Despair: This is the stage when one faces the inadequacy of one’s existing knowledge. When one realizes how little they actually know, their self-confidence sinks. The sentiment, “I know everything,” is replaced by, “There is much more than I know.”

Slope of Enlightenment: The person who has fallen to the lowest point of despair pushes themselves to increase their level of knowledge and skill and makes progress. From the Valley of Despair, they gradually climb towards the Slope of Enlightenment. This is the stage where real learning begins.

Plateau of Sustainability: This period does not imply that the person has mastered all knowledge. The person can now clearly draw the boundaries of their level of knowledge on a certain subject. They can clearly identify what they do not know, and make an effort to do so. Self-confidence rises again, but the tendency to be modest may also increase [9].

Conclusion

This phenomenon, which has always been controversial, continues to tempt both supporters and opponents with new research. As of today, the Dunning-Kruger Effect is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). It is still recognized as a psychological phenomenon rather than a pathological condition. However, it is sad that the phenomenon described is visibly common in society. When we think about it, it is not hard to find people under the influence of the DK effect in business, education, politics, sports, and arts. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we sadly witnessed those with little knowledge on the subject make statements on social media and mass media and pass laid-back judgments in contrast to the experts.

In an interview, Dr. Dunning said, “The key mistake people make about the Dunning-Kruger Effect is about who falls victim to it. The effect is not really about others; it is about us. The lesson to be drawn is how humble and cautious we should always be about ourselves.” The Dunning-Kruger effect affects not only ignorant or unskilled people. It impacts us all about the things we are yet to learn [10].

From a different perspective, “ignorance” has always been a major human weakness traditional scholars have addressed throughout history. Fethullah Gülen explains that there are three degrees of ignorance. “Simple ignorance” is when a person does not know; “double ignorance” is when they do not know that they do not know; and “triple ignorance” is when they think they know, although they don’t. In relation to this Gülen said, “The Arabic word muq’aab means “three-dimensional” and ignorance at this level is almost impossible to eradicate. It leads people to diverse delusions; sometimes into tyrants, sometimes into the likes of Yazid ibn Muawiya or Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, and sometimes into a Führer, down every path except the straight one” [11].

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi also draws attention to the connection between knowledge and humility: “In society as a whole, everyone has a window, known as rank, through which to see and be seen. If the window is higher than a person’s stature, he will grow taller through arrogance, but if it is lower, he will bow down out of modesty to see and be seen at that level. The measure of greatness in man is smallness, that is, modesty. The scale of smallness is bigness; that is, arrogance” [12].

Notes

1. M. Fethullah Gülen, Ölçü veya Yoldaki Işıklar, [Pearls of Wisdom] Istanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2011, p. 126.
2. J. Kruger, D. Dunning, “Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999; 77:1121–1134.
3. Brian Duignan, “Dunning-Kruger effect”, www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect
4. Jochen Mai, “Dunning-Kruger-Effekt: 4 Phasen der Selbstüberschätzung”, karrierebibel.de/dunning-kruger-effekt
5. S. R. Pavel et al. “The Dunning-Kruger Effect and SIUC University’s Aviation Students”, Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering, 2013, s. 125–129.
6. C. Sanchez, D. Dunning, “Overconfidence among beginners: Is a little learning a dangerous thing?”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2018; 114(1), 10–28.
7. A. Muller et all. “Neural correlates of the Dunning-Kruger effect.”, Eur J Neurosci, 2021 Jan; 53(2): 460–484.
8. A. Claessens et al. “Self-Illusion and Medical Expertise in the Era of COVID-19”, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, April 2021, 8/4.
9. Joshua Render, “The Dunning-Kruger Effect”, agile-mercurial.com/2019/07/12/the-dunning-kruger-effect
10. Jonathan Jarry, “The Dunning-Kruger Effect Is Probably Not Real”, www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/dunning-kruger-effect- probably-not-real
11. M. Fethullah Gülen, “Sevgi İksiri ve İmanın Tadı” [Elixir of Love and Taste of Belief], 1/10/2015, www.herkul.org/herkul-nagme/485-nagme-sevgi-iksiri-ve-imanin-tadi/
12. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, Mektubat, [The Letters] Istanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, p. 536.

Postpartum psychosis is a rare mental health condition that affects one or two in every 1,000 new mothers. Research suggests it is an overt presentation of bipolar disorder that coincides with hormonal shifts soon after delivery. Onset can be sudden and usually occurs 7-14 days after birth.

‘We can’t keep calling him Baby, can we?’ whispers Davy.

It’s Thursday 29th August 1985, and the cup of tea he brought me is still warm on the bedside table next to an empty plate. I’ve swallowed the last bite of jammy toast and am licking my sticky fingers. I feel loved and lucky, full of everything good, in my nest of pillows cradling the baby in the crook of my left arm. Years later I won’t remember if the morning outside our undergraduate flat in Aberystwyth was bright or overcast because in my low-lit memory the blackout curtains are always drawn, and the bedside lamp always blooms a languid glow.   

I match his whisper. ‘Ok, Daddy.’

‘So, we’ll decide tonight then – as his one-week birthday present?’ His words are a distant thrum.

About half of reported cases happen ‘out of the blue,’ to women without previous or familial history of psychiatric illness.

My gaze, like yesterday and the day before draws itself back to the baby. I brush his cheek with the back of my middle finger, watching his eyelids. They’re translucent, like mother-of-pearl, flickering with what I take to be his dreams. My mind is dull with love.

‘Jane, did you hear me?’

I nod without looking up as Davy bends to skim my bedroom hair with his lips.

‘Bye both,’ he says, then kisses his fingertip and touches it onto the baby’s cheek. ‘Don’t forget your bath’s running, Mummy.’

His words seem faraway, quieter than my thoughts and take forever to ripple through the heavy hush.

When the door closes after him I murmur, ‘I won’t,’ then gaze at the baby, watching his white toweling Babygro as it rises and falls. Eventually I haul myself up, sliding my arm out slowly so as not to move him awake then make a barrier of pillows to stop him rolling off the bed.

Symptoms often cascade rapidly and may include sufferers harboring odd beliefs, like their baby has something to do with God, or the Devil.

Next door in the white-wooden bathroom I flick on the lights and turn off the tap. I get undressed and sink into the milky water letting names float around my head, each foretelling a different future. Jimmy will be a writer. Dylan will have his own bakery in the Gothic quarter in Barcelona. Billy will be a scientist who’ll lead the research team who’ll eventually eradicate cancer. I roll the name around my mouth – Billy Bennett-Kermode – imagining my savior baby all grown up, healing the world. It’s a wonderful daydream until an upstart thought cuts through the treacle. How will you leave him when you have to go back to college? The clock is tick-tick-ticking.

The irritating thought has’ been nagging at the back of my mind for days and I’m annoyed with myself for letting it spoil my morning. I get rid of it by standing up and focusing on the here and now. I look through the steam at my hazy reflection in the cabinet mirror, shrimp pink, rippled fat with pendant breasts hanging heavy, full again already, aching fuller still, leaking at the thought of him. I step out and dry myself.

Developing symptoms may include a combination of manic or depressive behaviors, such as hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there, (hallucinations), and believing things that are not based on reality (delusions).

A loop on the old cotton towel snags on something high up on the back of my leg. I tug it and a thread pulls loose. I’m surprised. There’s nothing sharp about me, not anymore. I run a hand into the puckered arc of my buttock and thigh, feeling for – well, I’m not sure what I’m feeling for – dry skin perhaps or maybe a splinter. My finger recoils, pricked by something sharp. I look to see as a garnet of blood forms cabochon on my fingertip. I lick it away then rifle around in the wicker drawers under the sink to find my compact mirror. I need to see what has made me bleed.

The tiny reflection is difficult to catch, impossible to see in the harsh white light. I twist to get into the right position. It casts no shadow, traps no color, but, narrowing my eyes into slits and poking out my tongue, as though that will help, I just about see it. Growing out of my soft folds, out of my curds-and-whey skin, is a thorn – almost invisible – a sharp, see-through thorn of glass.

‘Get rid of it,’ spits a monster thought.

I do as I’m told, pulling at the thorn, but it’s impossible. It isn’t on the outside stabbing in, it’s on the inside, stabbing out.

‘Snap it off,’ barks the monster thought.

I try really hard, holding my breath, but a fractal of pain, lightening hot, stops me. I try again and again but I can’t, even when I bite my lip hard to trick the pain.

Other symptoms may include panic, confusion and racing thoughts.

I scrabble around in the second drawer down. I might not be able to pull the thorn out but I can make it invisible. Nail-file in hand, I sit on the edge of the bath to reach underneath my leg, feeling my way. I run an exploratory rasp over the point. It’s painless – like filing nails. I file and file, shearing it away into sparkles that fairy-dust the floor. It takes forever and when I’m done, though it isn’t gone completely, it is blunted. I rub oil into the raw skin around it, then all over, to soften myself back to normal, soft enough to hold my baby.

The baby!

I run naked into the bedroom.

He’s sleeping exactly as I left him. The room’s exactly as I left it, burgundy curtains drawn, cup of cold tea on the bedside table. I do what I’ve done so many times over the last few days and sleepless nights, I reach out to touch him, extending my finger to check he’s breathing.

I only see it because the overhead light isn’t on. The lamplight casts a shadow at exactly the right moment just before it connects. In the place where my mother’s touch should be is a talon of glass, almost invisible, poised to slice. I freeze then focus, seeing it clearly now. It’s thicker at the bottom than the top, slightly hooked, tapering to a point. I scream. It wakes him up. He starts to cry.

Common symptoms also include paranoia and feeling useless as a mother.

I want to pick him up to sooth him calm. I need to feed him quiet to release the pressure in my breasts that nursing him would ease.

‘Don’t touch him,’ spits a monster thought, ‘you’ll hurt him, with your thorns of glass.’ So instead, I look down at his jerky kicks and desperate fists as he cries himself crimson.

‘Thorns lead to more thorns,’ growls the monster thought.

I turn my hands over, and sure enough, another crystal pin-prick is almost breaking the surface of my right palm.

‘There might be one on your breast.’ The monster thought whispers my darkest fears like they’re delicious. ‘There might be one on your nipple.’

I blink away the image that springs into my mind, my insides shriveling to nothing. The baby turns his head sideways, rooting, frantic to latch on. I hold him away from me, folding the thorn into my palm, feeling with my safe middle finger. The nipple is safe. I sigh with relief as his hard gums clamp down and we connect, then I sit rigid against the wooden headboard too afraid to move myself comfortable, trapped and stiff with a growing thirst. By the time he’s finished and sleeping safely away from me in his cot, we’ve worked out a plan, my monster and I.

‘No-one must know,’ it said, and because I was afraid, I agreed.

‘Especially Davy, he mustn’t ever know. I’m here now to help you cope, and if no-one sees them, if he doesn’t see them, no-one will ever know how dangerously, cruelly, terribly sharp you are.’

Typically, it is a family member, often the partner, who realizes something is wrong.

It’s a week later though I don’t know it. I’m scrubbing hard, sterilizing dozens of new bottles in my yellow kitchen gloves, screwing the brush round and round as hard as I can, to scour the tainted plastic.

‘Bye then,’ says Davy from behind my back. I feel him hovering, wanting to kiss me goodbye.

‘See you at teatime,’ I say in monotone, screwing harder to avoid the kiss.

‘Let him go,’ yawns the monster. ‘It’s not like you can let him anywhere near you, is it? Not with those disgusting thorns.’

‘S’pose not,’ I reply, forgetting myself, too tired to argue.

‘Did you say something?’ says Davy.

I turn and look at him like he’s mad. He makes his face expressionless to hide what he’s really thinking, then walks over to the pastel carrycot, kisses his finger and smears the dirty kiss onto Billy’s sleeping cheek.

‘Do you have to,’ I say. ‘It’s full of germs.’

‘Bye,’ he says again, hesitating at the door.

I sit down at the table seeing it all from far, far away.

‘You’d better get a-filing,’ sing-songs the monster, ‘so they’re nice and short and safe and secret.’

It is rare for mothers with postpartum psychosis to harm their babies, but the cognitive disorganization associated with the condition, often results in them being neglectful of their baby’s needs or harming themselves.

There’s a noisy silence echoing through the kitchen in the wake of the slap. Billy is wet-faced, sitting in his bouncy chair. He’s just stopped crying and is breathing-in in shocked, jerky sobs. I can hear him but not feel him. I turn and stare at the naked hands in the washing-up bowl.

Billy was crying and I was so tired, so exhausted that I hadn’t been keeping on top of things, letting myself go, letting my secrets show. An unfiled thorn had pierced the marigold latex. It had let the dirty water in. I’d snapped the gloves off and hurled them wet against the wall, screaming wild and high like the banshee I am. They’d slapped hard, trailing a watery bruise down the magnolia paint.

‘Chop it off,’ snarls the monster. ‘Chop it off – the whole bloody hand. Chop off the whole bloody useless thing,’ and I watch as it claps its leathery hands, dances on its filthy feet, its glassy talons click-tapping on the Lino, so I don’t hear Davy behind me, home early because he’s worried sick and we really have to talk. I don’t hear him reaching out to touch my shoulder.

I swing round raising my hands to slash. He takes them in his, turning them over slowly. Time stops as he kisses my sharpest point, pressing his lip to its pin-prick tip. I try to pull away and am surprised when it draws no blood. That night, whilst Billy sleeps, I let him talk to my monster, and show him all my thorns.

Current recommended treatment includes admission to specialist mother and baby units, where talking treatments and antipsychotic medication including mood stabilizers can be administered without separating mother and child.

Billy and I came home six weeks later. Not from hospital, but from Blackburn in Lancashire where my stepmother was sister on the Intensive Care Unit. She used her contacts to access outpatient treatment for me and I received better care than most could expect in 1985. Then, postpartum psychosis was still medically undescribed and there were no generally agreed symptoms or treatment plans. Writing this is the first time I’ve set my experience into the context of current understanding and I’ve been struck by what a textbook case I was. It feels empowering, normalizing, therapeutic even, and makes me appreciate how fortunate I was, getting the treatment I did. Especially so, because sadly, my treatment was good even by modern standards. Though postpartum psychosis is better understood nowadays, beds in mother and baby clinics are still few and far between and there are huge regional differences that make service provision patchy. Diagnosis is often missed or comes too late, all of which seems properly crazy because it’s such a treatable condition, a very temporary madness. Without treatment, it can last for years, interfering with a mother’s ability to connect with and care for her children, causing incalculable long-term harm to mother and child.

And then there’s the prejudice and stigma. The stigma attached to having had postnatal psychosis is as real now as it was in 1985. It makes people hide that they’ve had it, so they never talk about coming out the other side of the strange and scary rabbit hole, and never share their stories. That’s why I’m writing this, though it’s taken me thirty-two years to pluck up the courage.

That first evening back in Aber, I was feeling how lucky I’d been even without the benefit of hindsight. Everyone had finally left us in peace and I was skim-reading The Guardian at the kitchen table – pit closures in Yorkshire, the Broadwater Farm riots – not exactly uplifting, but it still felt good to be back in the real world.

Davy had brewed up and was balancing toward me carrying two teacups that rattled fragile on their bony saucers. Funny what sticks in your memory – he looked like he was tightrope walking. I put a careful finger through the handle and raised my cup, miming a toast so as not to risk the brittle china, then took the small white neuroleptic from the saucer and swallowed it with the first sip.

‘Welcome home, Mummy,’ he said.

The scars where the thorns still scratched just below the surface were almost invisible that night, not in a whimsical, happily-ever-after kind of way, but really, because they’d started to become ordinary – part of our everyday landscape – and because my monster was sleeping, sleeping like a baby.

References List

• National Childbirth Trust (n.d.) What is Postpartum Psychosis? [On-line]. Available at https://www.nct.org.uk/parenting/what-postpartum-psychosis (Accessed 28 Feb 2020).
• National Health Service (2014) Postpartum Psychosis [On-line]. Available at http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/postpartum-psychosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx (Accessed 28 February 2020).
• Postpartum Support International (n.d.) Postpartum Psychosis [On-line]. Available at http://www.postpartum.net/learn-more/postpartum-psychosis/ (Accessed 28 February 2020).
• Royal College of Psychiatrists (2014) Postpartum Psychosis: Severe mental illness after childbirth [On-line]. Available at http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/postpartumpsychosis.aspx (Accessed 28 February 2020).
• Sit, D. Rothschild, A.J. Wisner, K.L. (2006) A Review of Postpartum Psychosis [On-line]. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3109493/ (Accessed 28 February 2020).
• Wikipedia (2016) Postpartum psychosis [Online]. 26 October 2016 Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpartum_psychosis (Accessed 28 February 2020)

Psychology

Articles

Muslim psychologists and psychiatrists recently published an eye-opening book titled Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care. I had learned about Dr. Rania Awaad and her work in mental health at a talk hosted by Salaam Islamic Center. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Director of the Muslim Mental Health Lab. Discussing how traditional Islamic texts meet with the modern disciplines of psychology and psychiatry, Dr. Awaad uses the “biopsychosocial” approach; she claims that psychology, mental health, spirituality, and religion cannot be separated. As someone who shares the same understanding, I was deeply impressed with her and her team’s clinical treatment methods and their new book. It is a book about introducing Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), which is the culminating result of the Khalil Center’s research.

I attach importance to this book because I truly believe in the power of holistic approaches to healing. I am also involved in the Association for Psychological and Spiritual Sciences (APSS), which is similar to the Khalil Center because it also encourages psychologists, psychiatrists, students of medicine, theologians, and researchers of human sciences to discuss and conduct studies to solve many problems of individuals and societies. Additionally, the APSS mirrors the Khalil Center due to its similar work of analyzing conceptual religious and spiritual sources of oriental history with an emphasis on Sufism. Thus, predominantly Islamic sources are discussed to develop universally applicable theories, concepts, and therapeutic strategies.

Two halves of a coin

The recently published book, Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care, is built upon three profound principles. First, researchers combed through traditional and foundational Islamic texts, such as the holy Qur’an, sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), actions of the Prophet (sunnah), and other general Islamic guidelines for spiritual and material well-being. Then, this well-established and prosperous literature review was evaluated, and then combined, with modern psychology. Last but not least, practical methods were then synthesized by using traditional Islamic literature in the psychology field and current modern psychotherapy techniques.

The book delivers a detailed and lucid account of the differences between the approaches utilized by modern psychiatry and the TIIP. Contemporary psychiatry is largely based upon “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders” (DSM) and “The International Classification of Disorders,” (ICD) which are used for diagnosing mental disorders. The TIIP utilizes these texts and the vast amount of clinical research that they possess, but on the other hand it also takes the Qur’an, hadith, sunnah, and other Islamic spiritual traditions into consideration. The critical difference in between the two is that the TIIP advocates for a more holistic approach to mental health that includes a person’s spiritual well-being, while modern psychiatry does not consider a person’s spiritual pathological character in order for them to require clinical treatment. 

The TIIP’s perspective is that the concept of health and pathology cannot be adequately addressed with current clinical diagnoses. According to Islam, proper psycho-spiritual health is heavily associated with each person achieving a strong understanding of their own unique ethereal purpose, and the proper treatments for gaining and maintaining psycho-spiritual health can be achieved through training. For instance, a person that suffers from an abundance of arrogance, which negatively affects various aspects of their life, does not require modern psychiatric clinical treatment. Since arrogance is mentioned as a spiritual disease in Islamic sources, a TIIP practitioner addresses this condition with a psycho-spiritual integrative approach.

The APSS explains this concept in more detail by arguing that the human being is a vast, profound, and complicated creation that longs for a sense of eternity, permanence, understanding behind creation and life, and connection to one’s Creator. Spiritual health is seen to be equally important as one’s physical and mental health since neglecting one’s spiritual health can have adverse consequences upon many facets of a person’s life. Thus, eternal satisfaction may be gained via spiritual contentment. 

Furthermore, these techniques are not exclusive only to Muslims despite their backing in Islamic theology; they could be applied to non-religious and religious individuals alike, regardless of their belief system, since Islam aims to take a holistic look at life in a way that everyone can relate to in some form.

Our “inner senses” cannot be ignored

Humans have external senses and internal senses. External senses include sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and we communicate with the external world via these senses. On the other hand, internal senses are spiritual senses and are used to communicate with the inner world. They include metaphysical concepts such as the spiritual heart (qalb), soul (ruh), and different modes of cognition (sır), (hafi), and (ahfa), and much more. They are the separate depth of the heart. Humans have a wide range of uses for internal dynamics and mechanisms, and our internal and external senses should work together like two wings on a bird. Just like how we take vitamins to strengthen our physical body, we strengthen our spiritual “body” by honing our inner senses.

All of the chapters of the book are very intriguing, and it has a compelling and inspiring effect on readers to understand and apply TIIP practices. For instance, the whole chapter about “Intellect” and its methodization in Islamic Psychotherapy is remarkable. One of the most impressive indications is that the word “intellect,” which is mentioned about 50 times in the Qur’an and across various hadiths, is referred to the link between intellect and well-being. Thus, the importance of the mind is explained through a different lens. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at our thoughts, feelings, and the roles that they have when it comes to how they affect our behavior. There is a direct correlation in between our thoughts, emotional health, mental wellbeing, and then our actions. The book refers to the writings of Islamic philosopher, jurist, and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and his modality in Islamic literature. Al-Ghazali offered to implement interventions among stages by addressing faulty thoughts, negative feelings, and actions. For instance, the Islamic ablution, which is often performed once before each of the five daily prayers, is given as an example during two of the stages. Those interventions would help change the focus on faulty thought and shift the state of emotion.

While the TIIP discusses the intellect it also includes three stages of “self” (nafs); the evil commanding lower self and the animalistic impulses (nafs ammarah), self-criticizing blaming stages (nafs lawwamah), and tranquil stage (nafs mutma’innah). These stages are interpreted as the spiritual elevation of the human spirit. A TIIP practitioner aims to achieve a tranquil stage for the client. TIIP gradually works with cognitive science by identifying and challenging a person’s faulty thought and then reconstructing situations, thoughts, and feelings. 

The seven stages of thought progression

In addition to the book’s description of intellect, the APSS mentions seven stages of the mind’s metacognitive dimensions and functioning system that are important information processing steps.

The first one is “imagination” (tahayyul); in this stage, false thoughts occur. The mind starts overreacting by imagining false thoughts, such as worrying about getting sick due to Covid-19 even if a person is self-quarantined and has almost no chance of getting it. In this phase, negative thoughts and apprehension happen. Then, the “envisage” (tasawwur) stage comes. Thoughts are conceptualized and shaped in this stage. An individual could start believing, or perhaps even convince themselves, that they have contracted the virus if they are constantly being exposed to negative news surrounding it. When both the imagination and envisage phases activate then thoughts start to attack an individual’s inner world. Toxic thoughts can begin entering the brain and can wreak havoc on a person in the form of abnormal behavior, anxiety, stress, and obsessive thoughts.

The fourth stage is “comprehending” (ta’aqqul), which also assess our thoughts with the goal of more clearly understanding them. Then, the “approval” (tasdiq) stage comes, and in this stage individuals understand and confirm positive thoughts in their heart. The next stage is foresight (iz’an) which starts where individuals begin to understand themselves very well and act according to their understanding. Next is favoring (iltizam). The last stage is faith (i’tikad), which involves having sincere belief, firmness, and not hesitating to act upon what a person believes to be right. The first two stages, imagination and envisage, compose the thought process and the outcomes of this process. To change faulty thoughts, individuals need to consciously intervene upon the first and second steps by “getting rid of habits.” Directly attacking the source of these negative thoughts allows a person to begin to change their faulty thinking processes. One should start with staying abstinent from being exposed to too much unhelpful information. Habits always need to be replaced in order to fill the void that is consequently made, and it is therefore recommended to engage in otherwise beneficial activities, such as reading the holy book, praying, spending time outside, engaging with people that bring joy and positive emotions, or pursuing a subject or hobby of interest.

Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing TIIP qualifies as a bedside book that every professional working with the Muslim population should read. The book structurally clarifies and demonstrates how Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy is utilized in therapy by discussing an overview of modern psychology and the traditional Islamic bibliography. Case examples are spectacularly and elaborately explained. After reading the whole concept and its case studies, readers will find answers to their questions. Whether the readers are an emotionally focused therapist, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, a behavioral therapist, or a spiritual therapy practitioner, they will benefit from this book. The book covers all four approaches under the “Treatment of the Domains of the Human Psyche” part. Therapeutic interventions can be practically implemented.