BONDED LABOUR

Slavery was abolished in the mid-19^th century all over the world, but now it has gotten a new name, modern slavery. One sort is bonded labo(u)r which is most widespread in South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, but it can even appear in Britain. Any country can encounter this serious threat any time whether one is the west or not. It flourishes year by year due to the world’s poverty and discrimination in society. Especially limited access to education, justice and jobs for discriminated groups makes it difficult to get out of poverty. The need for cash for their survival forces people to work more in exchange for a loan.

Laws against bonded labor are not implemented properly, specifically in the poor countries. Indeed, there are several significant gaps in the protection of domestic workers. For instance, when people who are in debt want to leave the system, landlords or employers use /resort to  some coercion, violence or intimidation. Domestic workers are not safe  from this mistreatment.  In addition, it is also necessary to make a new rule  in order to  eradicate the new modern slavery. Since a person is forced to work to pay off a debt and a man who is the owner of the company deceives the person to work for little or no pay, with no control over their debt. New laws should enable them not to be  dependent on the owner and instead of  the government. Also, a controllable repayment system is necessary  for such people. By doing this, several problems would be solved easily.

Women and children are most vulnerable parts of the society. If the government encouraged children to enroll, regularly attend and remain at  school, they would learn about their social rights and achieve their own economic stability earlier. Thus, they could even work on their own to repay their debt and so wouldn’t have to be under the control of another person. Education is most important, if the government convinced women to know and use their legal employment rights, that would help break the cycle of bonded labor.

All in all, people are still facing this sort of slavery, bonded labor. To eradicate this problem, the government should undertake responsibility for  ruling and implementing new labo(u)r laws. In addition, people who suffer from this problem should learn about labo(u)r rights and educate themselves well to protect themselves from being controlled by anyone.

                                                                                  Raziye Yağız                                                                                                      

                                                             

THE DAMAGE DONE BY HEADPHONES

       There are many technologies and devices which can be dangerous as well if not properly used. In the modern world, many of us are wearing headphones all day, every day. Headphones and earbuds are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they are safe for our ears. Using earbuds and headphones can cause damage to our hearing, if we aren’t careful and don’t learn how to keep ourselves safe.

     People usually have a smartphone in their pocket and a pair of headphones that connect it directly to their ears, unfortunately those same devices that make listening or talking on the phone so direct damage our ears.  According to a 2011 study published in the journal of the American Medical Association; the use of headphones and earbuds has led to a major increase in the prevalence off hearing loss in adolescents and young adults. As a result  of the study, it was also seen, the prevalence of hearing loss among a sample of US adolescents aged 12 to 19 years was greater in 2005-2006 compared with 1988-1994.  For this reason; hearing loss is a common sensory disorder, affecting 20 million  individuals, especially adolescents and of all ages, in Turkey.

       It is obvious  that headphones can lead to some adverse effects. When we wear the headphones, strong vibrations reach our ear, the problem deep inside the cochlea is the fragile hairs and they turn vibrations into sound messages and send them to the brain. But the loud sound damages the hair cells and the cochlea can’t relay the sound messages to the brain and also unlike the damage to other parts of the body, it can’t be cured. The world Health Organization estimates more than 1 billion young people are in danger of hearing loss from portable audio devices, including smartphones. For this reason, when the damage  starts, then we are really on an irreversible journey, we should protect our life from these devices.

       There are also some preventative measures  against the damage done by  headphones. Firstly, avoid using headphones when alone and choose the right headphones or select the one with good sound  allowing you to hear a clear audio, which leads you to listen at low volume because the right volume is  probably not going to damage the hearing process. Doctor Foy also said  follow the %60 rule in regards to percentage of maximum volume and duration of time. There are also some advertisements and companies claiming/ which claim that you need expensive headphones to protect your hearing. This is obviously a wrong idea; the price doesn’t really correlate with the sound quality or the protection.

     Technology is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it can make your life easier and more convenient. But on the other hand, it comes with a lot of side effects and drawbacks. Especially headphones are great, when we are traveling, working out and just want to relax, but there are some harmful effects we are likely going to experience, if we don’t use them correctly.

FIRAT AKKUŞ

REPAIR VERSUS REPLACE

    My mother's generation had many skills that young people lack today.In the past,people could mend clothes, sew on buttons and fix a broken tap but this is not true of current generations who learnt  to replace rather than repair. This essay will discuss why these changes have occured and what effects this is having.

    Today fashion changes quickly but in the past it changed slowly. Clothing and furniture,for example,would last for many years; even generations. However, these days with pervasive advertising  and communication via social media, information about new items travels quickly and we tend to throw out the old to buy the new. Another reason why fashions change is that manufacturerers  are motivated to make goods that do not last very long. For example,cars today are built to last five to ten years, whereas in the past, cars would last much longer. By having early obsolescence, manufacturers can sell more goods.

      This change in attitude has deskilled the public and is damaging our environment. We have lost both the skills and will to maintain our possessions. In fact often we see it as exciting to make new purchases.Another change is that we now create more negative environmental impacts because many of the goods we buy and throw out are not biodegradable. We have become a generation of consumers and we are damaging the environment. This is a huge change from the past.

       In conclusion, today we tend to buy new items rather than repair older possessions.In the process,most of us have lost the skills and desire to repair older items and a further consequence is that we are damaging our environment due to excess waste products.

MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

        Throughout history, the fallibility of justice has harmed some innocent people. There is an important concept concerning the issue; it is called ‘’miscarriage of justice’’. Miscarriage of justice can be defined as a failure of justice. Due to miscarriage of justice, an innocent person is found guilty and a wrongful conviction is not overturned for several years, until after the innocent person has been executed, released from custody, or has died. Therefore, there remains some disagreement as to whether the current judicial systems in the world are enough. It is an undeniable fact that miscarriage of justice has disastrous effects on people’s lives. As regards the causes of this, it can be said that it is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that confirmation bias on the part of the investigators is important in this issue. It is obvious that man is a mortal entity and people can make a wrong decision but this decision affects other people’s life adversely. Some events concerning miscarriage of justice in the well-known documentaries can be shown as the best instance of this; although some people are not guilty, they had stayed in  the prison for a long time. It is clear that time is indispensable for humanity due to the fact that it is impossible to compensate. It is clear that acting regardless of/ disregarding the criminal standard of proof is not right but confirmation bias leads to some negative consequences such as wrongful conviction.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: the withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or the prosecution causes miscarriage of justice. It is obvious that forensic science is an important factor during the prosecution process so forensic evidence is important to prove somebody’s innocence. Therefore, governments or officials should take precautions to prevent these situations, otherwise, some innocent people are found guilty and they can pass away or waste the best years of their life behind bars before their innocence is proved. Due to these reasons, these improper/negative situations cause miscarriage of justice.

                To summarize, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that miscarriage of justice is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

KUBİLAY ESER

 

THE POWER OF A BROADER PERSPECTIVE

                                              

                The power of perspective has brought significant changes to human life throughout history. It is obvious that having a broader perspective is indispensable for people and numerous developments or inventions happened/ took place thanks to the power of a broader perspective. There is one proverb about this issue: ‘’ what we see depends on what we look for’’. It is an undeniable fact that the viewpoints of people shape their thoughts, decisions, actions, and ultimately their feeling of success. There are a lot of advantages of having a broader perspective.

                In the first place, a broader perspective increases tolerance and understanding. It is clear that people who have a broader perspective refrain from making ignorant assumptions that can be destructive, so the perspective contributes to increasing tolerance. Similarly, one of the greatest benefits of travel is broadening of people’s perspective. Spending time in another culture gives a chance to find an alternative way of living to live well, that is to say, the perspective increases understanding. 

Likewise, when it comes to business relations and relationships, a broader perspective strengthen business relations and relationships. In order to have a successful business, sellers need to know what customers need and what they are looking for. Therefore, sellers have to think and see life from their customer’s perspective. A broader perspective strengthens business relations by providing with seeing from the customer’s perspective. In addition, people who have a broader perspective refrain from entering into a potentially contentious situation and find a middle ground, so having a broader perspective helps people to strengthen relationships.

                In the second place, people having a broader perspective are  the best candidates to hire and the better problem-solvers because they  are not subject to  unnecessary stress and stereotypes. Increasingly in the global economy, being aware of many different cultures has become important, in other words, to put it differently, having a broader perspective has become important. So, a person who has a broader perspective becomes the best candidate to hire. At the same time, a broader perspective provides a person with a skill to solve myriad problems or conundrums by analytical thinking, that is, people become  better problem-solvers. Besides, people may become a bit stressed because of uncontrollable events, a broader perspective can ease this angst, similarly, stereotypes are incorrect, oversimplified and fixed. Each of us, as individuals, is always evolving, growing and changing. Having a broader perspective contributes to the elimination of stereotypes of this kind.

                All that has been said  raises the issue of whether having a broader perspective is favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are lots of advantages of having a broader perspective. Increasing tolerance and understanding, strengthening business relations and relationships, becoming the best candidate to hire and a better problem-solver by eliminating unnecessary stress and stereotypes can be listed as the advantages of having a broader perspective. It should not be forgotten that having a broader perspective is indispensable for people who have global aims and targets.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

                                         

           
 The industrial revolution is defined as the period between the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The period started with the first cotton mill in 1733 in England. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret. Samuel Slater was a famous and important name in these years. Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution and the father of the American Factory System. In the UK, he was called ‘’Slater the Traitor’’ because he brought British textile technology to America.Although the industrial revolution is seen as appealing to many people, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

The industrial revolution marked a major turning point in the Earth’s ecology and people’s relationship with their environment. The industrial revolution dramatically changed every aspect of human life and lifestyles when machinery began to replace manual labor. Fossil fuels replaced wind, water and wood and were used for the manufacture of textiles and the development of the iron making process. The full impact of the industrial revolution would not begin to be realized until about 100 years later in the 1800s when the use of machines to replace human labor spread throughout Europe and North America. This transformation is referred to as the industrialization of the world. This process gave  rise to sweeping increases in production capacity and would affect all basic human needs, including food production, medicine, housing, and clothing. Not only did society develop the ability to have more things faster, but also it would be able to develop better things. That process of industrialization  continues today. There have been movements and periods in history which have proved to be important milestones leaving their mark on the years to come and forever changing the social, economic and cultural landscape. Some were religious in nature like The Reformation; some were artistic and philosophical like The Renaissance; yet others were economic like The Industrial Revolution. The former two movements have been widely studied but the latter is often overlooked. In fact, this movement which started with the invention of the spinning jenny and continued to impact all areas of business and social life throughout the 18^th and the 19^th centuries had some far reaching consequences.

There is a wide discussion in many parts of the world as to the effects of the Industrial Revolution. It is clear that working conditions, living conditions, urbanization, public health, and life expectancy, child labor, working-class families and the role of women, the emerging middle class, wealth and income are important effects in this period. Actually, there remains some disagreement as to how life for the average industrial worker was forever changed by bringing wealth and power to Great Britain throughout the 19^th century. Therefore,  the effects of industrialization on society and on daily living in a new industrial city should be explored.

            Firstly, in terms of working conditions, workers made up 80% of society and landowners were enclosing common village lands since the population was increasing in Great Britain. Besides, having no bargaining power to demand higher wages, fairer work hours, or better working conditions meant that working life was very tough for the workers of that period. In addition, there is a big problem: lack of medical attention due to the fact that injured workers would typically lose their jobs and  receive no financial compensation for their injury to pay for much-needed health care. It is clear that the government should have intervened in the free market to improve working conditions and workers should  not have been forced to work. That is to say, the government should have established a commission to investigate working conditions in the new factories and mills. If there are unsafe conditions, it is the government’s responsibility to look out for the safety of its citizens and set minimum safety standards.

            Secondly, in terms of living conditions, working in new industrial cities had an effect on people’s lives outsides of the factories as well. But it is an undeniable fact that during the first sixty years of the Industrial Revolution, living conditions were, by far, the worst for the poorest of the poor. Obviously, cities should have become places with opportunities for sport and entertainment.  It is the duty of the government in any welfare state to provide legislation to ensure that the living conditions of the working class are improved. This was not done during the 19^th century as the modern welfare state had yet to be established. Instead it was believed that the  government should intervene as little as possible to improve living conditions for the working class. After all, if the government gave handouts to the poor, there would be no incentive for them to find work on their own.

            Thirdly, in terms of urbanization, this period witnessed  the rise of cities. In pre-industrial society, over 80% of people lived in rural areas. As migrants moved from the countryside, small towns became large cities. As a result, working-class neighborhoods were formed and they were  bleak, crowded, dirty, and polluted. It was believed at the time that the government should not intervene in the free market to regulate industrial pollution or the filth in working-class neighborhoods. In fact, the government should have established a commission to investigate the negative effects of industrialization on urban life.

            Fourthly, in terms of public health and life expectancy, in the first half of the 19^th century, urban overcrowding, poor diets, poor sanitation, and essentially medieval medical remedies all contributed to very poor public health for the majority of British people. In addition, drinking water resources, such as wells, were frequently contaminated with diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, typhus, typhoid, and influenza. Unfortunately, it is true that in 1849, ten thousand people died of cholera in three months in London alone. Poor nutrition, disease, lack of sanitation, and harmful medical care in these urban areas had a devastating effect on the average life expectancy of British people in the first half of the 19^th century. It was believed that, the government should not intervene in the free market to improve public health. Citizens, it was felt, should be  free to hire a doctor, go to a hospital, or seek their own medical remedies, as they had been doing for centuries. The government, it was thought, had not been and should not be in the business of building houses for poor people.

            Fifthly, in terms of child labor, unfortunately, child labor was integral to the first factories, mines, and mills in England. The tedious and dangerous factory work had negative effects on the health of children. There is one fundamental question: Why was child labor used? Generally, as regards the causes of this, it is claimed that child employees are better than adults due to the fact that they are more obedient and child labor is cheap. What is more, most people believed that these impacts were expected to intensify in the following decades and unfortunately they were right because child labor is still a big problem in the modern world, in the twenty-first century, according to research carried out by international survey companies, especially in Southeastern Asia.

            Sixthly, in terms of classes, it is an undeniable fact that middle classes or ‘’ middling sort’’ emerged in industrial cities, mostly toward the end of 19^th century. The society consisted of aristocrats born into their lives of wealth and privilege, and low-income people born into the working classes. Besides, ‘’white collar’’ workers  such as business people, shopkeepers, bank clerks, insurance agents, merchants, accountants, managers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers emerged. However, it was believed that the government should not intervene in the private family lives of its citizens. The middle class it was felt, was doing fine. In fact the government should invest in the public school system to educate its citizens and encourage the continued rise of the middle class.

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all of these points that have been explained so far is that the industrial revolution has had lots of detrimental effects, what is more, the detrimental effects of the industrial revolution are still going on constantly. Due to this reason, precautions should be taken to minimize them. No matter what happens, nothing is more important than human life so it should be given due importance and it should not be endangered, that is to say, living properly is the most important thing for people in the world. In other words, to put it differently, the revolution led to negative results i.e. the social impacts of the industrial revolution in cities brought poverty and harsh living conditions. There is one proverb about this issue: ‘’stood on the shoulders of giants’’. It is not wrong to say that the revolution played an important role in rapid urbanization.

KUBİLAY ESER

THE SOCRATIC METHOD AND PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY​

      Education has become one of the main themes of philosophy due to its common points and correlations. Education can be defined as a process of learning and teaching which can be actualized on one’s own or with a teacher using various materials and methods. In its simplest form, philosophy is the search for knowledge and truth by judging and critical thinking. In the history of Greek Philosophy, philosophers used different methods to teach their students philosophy and educate them with their own techniques. Socrates, who known as the founder of Philosophy, constituted a method whose name is the dialectic method or the Socratic method and it was based on making dialogues. Other than this, his well-known student Plato justified a different method, which is almost the opposite of the Socratic method, for effective education in society. He also mentioned his and Socrates's method in The Republic. Throughout the history of philosophy, it is debated by philosophers to decide which one is more productive and applicable in society.

       The Socratic method or the dialectic method is based on the dialogue technique which requires consistently asking and criticizing. Socrates believed that argumentative dialogue between individuals and asking question after question stimulate critical thinking and good reasoning. With that, he also asserted that it helps to solidify students’ knowledge of the case by thinking critically under pressure. But the disputed part of his method was about the belief that claims it can be applied and succeed with everyone. According to Plato’s book whose name is Menon,ın order to prove that, he asked a geometry problem to an illiterate peasant and helped him to find the correct answer by regularly asking questions and criticizing.He believed that through this method the individual can find his own mistakes and think again until he finds the correct answer. Because of that reason, having knowledge about something is not a necessary factor or in other words, it isn’t a priority to achieve the right answer.

        The reason for emphasizing critical thinking and giving less importance to having knowledge in the Socratic method was his thought that asserts knowledge is the only tool to find answers; The fundamental way to learn something is thinking and making criticizes about information by using your mind effectively.His explanation for this idea was knowledge can only take you to a particular place, in order to proceed and to be aware of other options, you have to review and make criticisms about your argument. That may explain to us why most of the education systems don't use ‘Essentialism’ which teaches just by giving information and use ‘Progressivizm’ which provides a contrast with essentialism due to learning by experiencing and thinking for effective learning.  

       As an illustration to the usage of the Socratic method in the classroom, we can exemplify a teacher who randomly picks a student and ask her/him questions continuously. Today, some colleges use this technique due to its efficiency. In Harvard Law School, the professor starts asking question to dozens of students during a class session and then, some of the other students oppose his/her idea or specify the wrong points. In that way, students can see the unobserved parts of the case and represent different solutions. Furthermore, the student may become a more accountable person and join the discussion by reading before lectures. With this in mind, it might be a disturbing situation for a student who couldn't answer the professor’s question at the first time and also it may condition the student to join next lecture because of this experience. In this wise, her/his confidence might be affected badly and this way causes unwillingness to attend the professor’s lectures. In order to prevent this harm, teachers can start to use this technique in elementary school and students can become habituated.

       Plato’s method for education can be contrasted with Socrates’s even though he was educated by him.First of all, Platon believed that education should be used as a tool to protect public order by society.In order do that properly, education should be institutional instead of being individualist and learning must be a process of transferring information which is the opposite of learning by criticizing and experiencing like in the Socratic method.He mentioned his ideas about social structure in the ideal state that is shaped by education in his famous book ‘The Republic’. In the book, he wrote that every individual should be educated according to his nature, capability, and skills. In order to ensure the accordance between capability and education, he classified the society in three groups which are rulers, soldiers or in other words protectors and workers. He thought that the people who have a tendency to work in a job which requires physical ability should be in the group of workers.In the same way, the people who are innate courageous and brave should be in the group of protectors. But, when it comes to the rulers, he believed there must be more specific elimination.Plato thought that rulers should be chosen from among protectors’ group with an examination. In that way, the purpose of education for Plato was defining the appropriate social status of individuals according to their capacity. In that way, every person can devote his life to what is the best fit for him.

       He believed in teaching math, philosophy or geometry to the people who are just in the group of rulers because intellectual aristocracy is the rule of the intellectual elite. He believed that knowledge should be given to the people who can evaluate, criticize, and use it widely.With this in mind, he was against compulsory education and explained it in The Republic with this sentence; Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Forcing someone to learn something without considering his abilities won’t be beneficial for the person or the state. Therefore, education has to be individualistic and done by the correct person.

     Socrates’s philosophy and method in education are different from Plato’s philosophy in many ways. Primarily, Socrates interpreted education as an active process that individuals took part in themselves. In contrast, Plato asserted it was a passive process because the people get all information and acquire knowledge from a teacher and don’t try to find the right answer by criticizing. Secondly, Socrates believed that education has to be non-dogmatic while Plato argued the opposite one ‘dogmatic education’.As a result of reasoning in the Socratic method, he used induction in the learning process.On the contrary, Plato used deduction while teaching something. Socrates taught a lesson by talking and discussing the issue with his students and his philosophy was based on having argumentative conversations. But Plato interpreted philosophy as a whole of truths and taught it by writing and reading.

     As another difference between Plato’s and Socrates’s philosophy in education is the possibility of having an education. Plato thought education has to be individualistic while Socrates asserts it has to be institutional. The reason for this and other clashes of ideas might be their approach to the regime; Socrates justifies democracy, on the other hand, Plato takes the side of autocracy. Because Socrates was justifying democracy, he asserted that everyone should be educated in equal standards and take part in education.For Plato, he considers education as an individualistic process on account of autocracy.He believed that education should be given to the elite which he defined as the rulers. It may seem unfair and hierarchical at first but, if we think about today’s education and the people who work in jobs that they are not fit to do because the job wasn't given to them considering their capacities and  abilities, the idea of hierarchical education might seem right and feasible.

                                  SUEDA DİNÇ

         

   

   

SHOULD PRIVATE SCHOOLS BE ABOLISHED?

 Today, in many countries, there are private schools which are preferred by some people for their better physical conditions and the education they give/ provide. These schools are mainly open to economically privileged students because of the required fees. Scholarship students constitute just a small part of these schools’ students. It is obvious that these schools create and reinforce inequality in society and should be abolished after some steps are taken.

  

One of the main arguments against abolishing private schools is that people have the right to freely make their choice of the school they will attend or they want their children to do so . Private schools provide a variety of options in that they can have different educational approaches and philosophies. They argue that this variety gives people the chance to choose the one that meshes best with their own understanding of education, and people should be free in spending their money for this school. However, this argument overlooks the fact that getting a good education is one of the essential rights of every human. This right should be independent of the money people are able to pay. It may be true that state schools are not as diverse as private schools in terms of their educational approaches and philosophy. The education they offer is more dependent on a standard curriculum which is usually compatible with the state’s interests and they may also be more closed to new methods in education. At this point, independent nongovernmental organizations should take part inefforts to force the government to change this situation and make an effort to make state schools as  diverse as private schools are.

 It is a fact that state schools are usually more inadequate  than private schools in terms of both their educational resources and facilities but this fact doesn’t mean private schools shouldn’t be abolished. Governments and other groups should take initiative to enhance the situation of state schools. After this process, private schools should be abolished because abolishing them will also help state schools to reach better standards in that it will put pressure on politicians to support state schools and force them to allocate more from the budget for these schools. 

  

  In conclusion, protecting people’s rights is why a government is founded and the right to education is one of those rights. Private schools are not solutions to existing problems in education and cause inequality to be reproduced. It is quite understandable that people with sufficient money want to get a better education; what we need to change is the situation of state schools and after some efforts, another step should be abolishing private schools.

                                                                                                      NEBİLE SENA BAŞAR

  

THE EFFECTS OF URBAN LIVING ON THE MIND

                                                

                Over the past 50 or 60 years, urbanization has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether the effects of urban living on the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is an undeniable fact that urban living has disastrous effects on people’s mind and it  affects people adversely in the four corners of the world.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that urban living affects people’s mental health adversely. It is clear that the risk of developing anxiety and mood disorders are important points in this issue. Anxiety disorders pose a  higher risk with 21 percent and mood disorders pose  the highest risk with 39 percent. It is important to emphasize that living in a city roughly doubles the risk of schizophrenia. It can be said that there are a lot of reasons concerning the risks, one of the most important reasons is stressful life events: divorce, bereavement or a serious illness, besides, income, employment, and education affect mental health. According to research carried out by Dr. Andres Meyer-Lindenberg of the central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim in Germany, the city dwellers’ brains, don’t seem to handle stress so well, compared with people who live in the countryside.

                Similarly, when it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: urban living has disastrous effects on people’s brain health, especially the amygdala and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC). The amgydala is responsible for assessing threats and generating fear, on the other hand, the pACC is responsible for regulating the amygdala. According to research, in the city dwellers, the amygdalas appear more active and not to be the same smooth connection between the behavior of the two brain regions. In addition, there is a different point: Dopamine levels. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter with many functions, one of which is to infuse the brain, besides, dopamine levels are very high in parts of schizophrenic people’s brain.

                All that has been said raises the issue of whether the effects of urban living on the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are lots of harmful effects on people’s brain. The risk of anxiety and mood disorders, stress, the failure of the amygdala, pACC and dopamine levels can be listed as the detrimental effects on the minds of urban dwellers.

                                                                                             KUBİLAY ESER

TREES CAN COMMUNICATE WITH EACHOTHER

     Trees can communicate with one another. Trees share water and nutrients through underground fungal networks and also use them to communicate. Trees are interdependent and cooperative when sharing their feelings about nature and the environment. There are some people who claim that we can understand and speak their language with some techniques.

     Forest trees have evolved to live in cooperative, interdependent relationships, maintained by communication and a collective intelligence similar to an insect colony.  Their real action is taking place underground just a few inches below our feet. According to Ecologist Suzanne Simard, trees have a sophisticated and interconnected social network existing underground. In the forest, the tallest trees are hub tress. They have greater access to sunlight and through the process of photosynthesis. They need underground fungi to provide  sugar to survive, most of the fungi bodies are made out of a mass of threads called mycelium. Mycelium absorbs the excess sugar and it provides the tree with nutrients. Tress can communicate with each other via the mycelium.

    There is an important question about trees. Can we learn to speak their language? Yes, we can still keep trying to understand their language. Doctor Haskell says “Trees are biology’s philosophers, dialoguing over the ages and offering up a quiet wisdom. We should listen, they know what they are talking about.” So there are some techniques to communicate with trees. Firstly, place your hands on a tree or its roots and close your eyes and tune into its energy. Gaze upon the tree and simply observe it. Many times this will bring thoughts, questions and answers into our conscious awareness.

    When everything is taken into consideration, it’s quite easy to understand that trees can transfer information to eachother and we have the ability to understand these mechanisms. Trees speak to eachother in a language and we can listen to.

FIRAT AKKUŞ

THE PROS AND CONS OF DRIVERLESS CARS

Increasing advances in technology with each coming year have affected humanity in many ways. Driverless cars are also one of the major breakthroughs in science. On the other hand, they aren’t a recent invention. The concept was first introduced in the Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. General Motors offered an automated highway system which would guide driverless vehicles to their destination. Then, there were many remarkable developments regarding such cars. Some people are enthusiastic about these advances while some others refuse to use driverless cars owing to a variety of reasons. Thus, both advantages and disadvantages must be evaluated before taking further action.

Driverless cars have various undeniable downsides. To begin with, the human factor cannot be completely eliminated through existing technology. People must know how to operate the vehicle in emergency situations. Drivers should also know how to maintain such cars properly. Moreover, since computers reach a final decision, ethical issues are also thorny problems. There is no clear consensus as to what will happen if a driverless car going at full speed encounters an individual crossing the street. Should it run into this person or decide to take the vehicle off-road even if passengers will be injured? As for such cars’ operating system, we encounter another weighty matter. The operating systems are susceptible to hacking, and hence, security is a knotty problem. That means terrorists can access specific control mechanisms and thus program computers to carry out violent actions such as a vehicle attack. There is also a subtle point concerning this matter. As self-driving cars could collect so much personal information, marketers may use this information to create individualized advertising. How can that occur? When humans use a self-driving car, it’s computer stores information about the trip. Namely, all your private information such as the stores you prefer to visit, and the restaurants you like will be collected. This data would be a treasure trove of input for marketers if automobile manufacturers sold it to them. Similar to artificial intelligence, driverless cars may cause the loss of jobs. In other words, this technology would make people driving taxis or delivering food virtually obsolete. Since people who cannot drive a car would start to own a self-driving car, traffic jams would also increase sharply. Apart from the above mentioned points, there are numerous insurmountable problems: What will happen in the event of a collision? Who will be at fault and who will pay for the repairs? The car manufacturers or the drivers?

Even though it is frustrating to think about the drawbacks, we have to consider the advantages also. Because drivers display undesirable behaviour while travelling by car, self-driving cars will reduce the number of accidents. Many lives will be saved thanks to this. Some research ascertained that over 80% of automobile crashes spring from human error.  For this reason, insurance costs associated with damage will also markedly decrease. As computers are in more control, there may be fewer road rage incidents. Another upside  of driverless cars is that individuals with disabilities will have less dependence on the public transportation systems offering unpredictable schedules. These people won’t ask for the aid of others, which also means the handicapped will have greater mobility. Self-driving cars could work with higher speed limits since computers can calculate all the probabilities related to the safety of driving, a multitude of measures like speed limits on the  roads will be unnecessary. This also means that people might adress their other needs while the vehicle transports them to their destination. Driverless cars would reduce the amount of fuel as well. This is because such cars can avoid high traffic areas and places where there are severe weather conditions thanks to communicating with each other. Commute times will also be reduced because these cars will know where they can maximize speed to ensure the quickest possible commute. Moreover, the probability of missing an exit will be eliminated since this stems from human error. Lastly, self-driving cars could reduce the number of automobile thefts because biometric technologies can recognize fingerprints and faces; these are  used as our passwords for our devices and could also apply to self-driving cars. This means if someone else tries to use our car, it will refuse to start or immediately shut itself down.

In conclusion, driverless cars have positive and negative aspects. However, in my opinion, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It is a well known fact that 1.3 million people are killed worldwide every year owing to traffic accidents. Although the fact remains that we cannot know what the future holds, I am of the firm opinion that autonomous vehicles will eradicate all fatalities. Moreover, the handicapped will have a chance to be more active in social life.

                                                                                          CEM KOCA

GEOENGINEERING

                                                                             

               Over the past 50 or 60 years, global warming and climate change have brought significant changes to our lives. Global warming can be defined as the increase in average global temperature, on the other hand, climate change is accepted as the result of global warming, including droughts, heat waves, extreme weather events, etc. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether geoengineering is a solution to counteract the harmful effects of global warming and climate change. It is claimed that geoengineering is complex and controversial, besides, requires negotiation and cooperation among governments, scientists, civil society, and the private sector. However, most people believe that geoengineering is the best solution to counteract the negative effects of global warming. Geoengineering is defined as the deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the earth’s climate, in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming.

                 To solve this situation, we begin by a closer look at the details of geoengineering. Geoengineering can be divided into broad categories: Carbon Dioxide Removal(CDR) and Solar Radiation Management(SRM). CDR consists of several interwoven terms and methods such as CO2 air capture, Afforestation/Reforestation, Ocean fertilization, avoiding deforestation, algae-coated buildings, and biochar. On the other hand, SRM includes several terms and steps like in the case of stratospheric aerosols, solar reflectors in space, enhanced surface brightness, roads-rooves-pavements, enhanced cloud brightness, and planting light-leaf species.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that geoengineering should be implemented to reduce global warming immediately because the world is warming, this much people know and how much it will warm in the following decades. There is a wide discussion in many parts of the world today as to this issue because it is an undeniable fact that global warming affects several factors adversely in the four corners of the world. It is obvious that global warming has done a lot of damage to; but not for people. That’s why techniques of geoengineering are not only good for people but also good for the animal kingdom due to the  direct impact on nature for example. In addition, it is important to emphasize that geoengineering is affordable and fast-acting and it requires less cooperation and altruism.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: geoengineering should be implemented to prevent a potential humanitarian crisis and due to human rights. It should not be forgotten that people have some rights such as the right to land, the right to self-determination, the right to life, and the right to a safe and healthy environment. If the harmful effects of global warming continue to increase, the environmental side effects will be irreversible and people will not be able to find  land and nutrition for eating. That is to say, they will not be able to fulfill their needs. Some African countries can be shown as the best instance of this, due to the fact that they suffer from droughts, starvation, lack of security and infectious diseases. In addition, due to these negative effects and insufficiencies, people will face a potential humanitarian crisis in the four corners of the world. According to research carried out by elite universities and scientists, Small Island Developing States(SIDS) will be seen in the coming decades like in Bangladesh. It is not wrong to say that it is not possible to live  because of the population density of SIDS. As a result of this, it is an undeniable fact that people will face a humanitarian crisis.

On the other hand, some people claim that geoengineering is complex and controversial, besides, requires negotiation and cooperation among governments, scientists, civil society, and the private sector. However, these claims are not acceptable because it is important to emphasize that the negative effects of global warming are expected to intensify in the following decade and the detrimental effects will affect the entire world. Therefore, people have to take precautions to prevent these negative effects of global warming and implement techniques of geoengineering.

All that has been said raises the issue of whether geoengineering is a solution to counteract the negative effects of global warming. Although some people claim that geoengineering is complex and controversial and has different requirements, it seems that geoengineering is the best solution to prevent the negative effects of global warming. Otherwise, these detrimental impacts are expected to intensify in the following decade. No matter what happens, nothing is more important than human life, so it should be given due importance and it should not be endangered. Geoengineering is an intervention in nature in some sense but it has a role to play in shaping the future and society. Nature is an indispensable factor for humanity due to the fact that as can be seen above, it is related to everything in the world.

KUBİLAY ESER

OVEREMPHASIS ON FORMAL EDUCATION

The modern world is a highly competitive place where millions join the race to the top each passing day. The struggle to succeed involves a lot of hardship and misery, which has caused the fear of the future to become ingrained in parents. This fear coupled with the desire to make the child’s path up the greasy pole as smooth as possible is leading modern parents to focus on schooling to the exclusion of all else. This tunnel vision parents are trapped in is highly detrimental, is doing untold damage and should be discouraged no matter what.

The gravity of the problem of excessive emphasis on formal education is best exemplified by the situation in South Korea. Here children go to school at the crack of dawn for a full day and then head off to ‘hogwons’, that is to say private courses, where they have to do tests and solve problems. They are not allowed to go to bed until they have managed to solve all the problems correctly. The result is that they often don’t get to bed until midnight. Such kids are known to have committed suicide.  That this attitude to raising children and preparing them for the future is akin to torture goes without saying. Not being able to see the damage done to the child’s physical and psychological development is inexcusable.

A child who studies to the exclusion of all else will miss out on a lot of socialization and thus the acquisition of numerous social skills which will also have an undeniable role to play in determining his future success. These social skills can only be learnt through interaction with others in a social setting not through interaction with tests. It is a wonder such children are still able to speak their native language as they don’t even get practice in that. The educational value of the unending battle with tests that continue into the night is also highly doubtful as most educators should know full well. Concentration levels will drop as exhaustion sets in and hunger takes its toll. Couple this with lack of restorative sleep, unhealthy eating habits and minimal physical activity over a long period of time and the child’s growth and development will be stunted.  This is not the whole story however; the damage done to the child’s mental well being also needs to be considered.

A child who is unable to escape the grip of formal schooling will inevitably suffer psychological problems. He may be plagued with lack of confidence as he stays up well into the night completing schoolwork. He may become shy and withdrawn as he has minimal contact with his peers. He may not grow to be street-wise due to insufficient contact with the outside world. He may suffer from fear of failure, be plagued by guilt and be prone to nightmares. Conversely, he may become an inhuman zombie in whom all the qualities that make him human have been suppressed. Parents need to think long and hard about the path they are taking when deciding on the best way to raise their children. The system they are bent on applying amounts to child abuse.

Some may say that a good education is the only way to get ahead in life but a quick look at college application criteria will show that grades are not the only thing being sought by good universities. Club activities, individual initiatives, hobbies and interests and the like are also required. Incorporating all these into the child’s life and providing a more rounded upbringing is more likely to lead to future success as well as good physical and mental health. Parents should wish their children to be successful and happy as well. What is the point of having all the wealth in the world when you can’t relax enough to enjoy it?

A child isn’t the latest type of software; he is a human being with human needs which should not be ignored. Raising a child involves addressing physical and psychological needs. It also involves providing a loving home environment and time with peers. Only focusing on cognitive development to the exclusion of all else will do untold damage to the child and should thus be categorized as a crime.

UNRELIABLE MEMORIES

     Our brain is considered a computer. It records data and data is kept by our brain without experiencing any changes. Actually, the brain stores memories that we think never change. When we remember something, our brain revives them. However, we may not always remember events like the first time. That's why, our memories are unreliable. There are some reasons why memories are not reliable.

      First of all, one of the main reasons for an unreliable memory is that when we want to recall our memories, we reconstruct the events. We are facing a lot of events every day. The new situations which we encounter cause us to reshape the events. In addition, our memories are affected by our present expectations and our current knowledge and thoughts. Thus, while we are remembering  the past events, we can mix the present and the past. Therefore, our memories can deceive us and they may be unreliable.

       Secondly, another reason for unreliable memories is that we usually suppress memories that are painful and damaging to our self-esteem. We have a tendency to remember pleasant memories because painful memories torment us when we revisit them. Therefore, we may not say that memories are completely true and reliable. Moreover, we are open to external factors such as false memories. We are open to believing in unexperienced events. For example, when a person says “a wild dog was chasing you in your childhood”, you believe the person who tells that story. That's to say, you can be misled. That's why, our memories are unreliable.

       All in all, our brain is not a machine which preserves the events and memories. Our brain keeps the memories in mind and each time we recall something, these memories come out changed. Our brain reconstructs them. Therefore, our memories are unreliable.

                                                                                                  Seher Çakmar

DOES TECHNOLOGY NEED TO BE ETHICAL?

                Over the past 50 or 60 years, technology has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether technology needs to be ethical. To begin with, ethics is generally defined as a theoretical discipline that reflects on the good or responsible actions of human beings. It is claimed that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them  in every area. However, some people argue that technology has a responsibility to society to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people.  Moreover, trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook.

                First of all, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that new technological developments may harm people. It is important to emphasize that there are some adverse effects of technology on human life, so the adverse effects of technology are widely debated. The debate on using technology such as gene editing techniques on the Designer Baby Experiment in China, for example, has become a hot-button political issue, involving scientists, policy-makers, politicians and religious groups because how ethical is it to use technology to improve human species? Therefore, the adverse effects of technology are an undeniable fact and some developments may harm people.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the  increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook. Similarly, the discussion on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has mobilized civil society, scientists and policy-makers in a wide debate on ethics and safety. Request for transparency and the desire to be ethical are increasingly central to these debates. A serious hacking event has happened in the USA. The hacked folders included the personal data of about 50 million Americans  which was/has been harvested  via Facebook. This  was announced as ‘’a mistake’’ by Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder and owner of Facebook. Zuckerberg has been criticized during  the investigation. But there is no obvious conclusion and explanation about both GMOs and the hacking event. Therefore, there is a wide debate about whether technology needs to be ethical.

                On the other hand, some proponents argue that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as a human and use them in every area. According to them, these machines should be the most superior and intelligent species in the universe. However, these technologies may have devastating consequences/lead to a lot of serious problems for human beings: for example, (For example..) artificial intelligence might be uncontrolled or get out of control:  we saw/have seen  an apparent instance in the latest Facebook AI Experiment. After a few hours, it was turned off by Facebook because it got out of control and it created its own language.Therefore, Technology needs to be ethical and should  not be used  in every area like in the case of the Facebook AI Experiment and the Designer Baby Experiment.

                To summarize, whether technology needs to be ethical is a controversial issue. There are those who claim that  there is no room for ethics; and technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them in every area. However, it seems that technology needs to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people, and trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation.

KUBİLAY ESER