IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

               

   ‘Have you ever felt like the things that you achieved or the position that you’ve reached doesn’t belong to you?’ or ‘Did you feel like you were playing fake and someone was going to unmask you? If you feel  that way, you might be experiencing impostor syndrome.Impostor syndrome, also known as imposter phenomenon, is the psychological condition of a person who always feels doubtful about his accomplishments and considers himself as a fraud despite the contrary evidence.According to Ellen Hendriksen, who is an author for Scientific American and psychologist at Boston University, Impostor Syndrome comes in two common types which are ‘ I’m a fake’ and ‘I got lucky’.

 The type I’m a fake is based on the most common characteristic of Imposter Syndrome which is the feeling of incompetence.The individuals who are categorized in this type often feel that what they achieved was not the result of their effort or intelligence; It was luck or something else.Therefore, they usually live with fear of being unmasked or discovered by others. Amy Cuddy, who is a professor at Harvard University now, experienced this situation for a long time and told her story on Ted Talk.She said that her IQ level had dropped after a car accident when she was 19.As a result of it, she had lost confidence in herself and what she had succeeded in even though her academic success indicates the reverse.One day she explained this situation to her professor by saying ‘ I do not belong here and I’m playing fake, one day someone will reveal that I’m not capable enough to be here’.Her professor advised her to fake it until she make it; In time,she really became what she wanted to be and changed the sentence with ‘Fake it until you become it.’

 The second type of Impostor Syndrome is ‘I got lucky’.Individuals who experience this type mostly relate their success to chance or something else not their hard-work,effort or talents.With that, because these persons think that they became successful and achieved high positions in their career by luck,they usually feel pressure to work harder than others not to lose their position whether they need to work or not.As a consequence of this continious hard-work and trying to achieve the best they can, individuals who are in this category have more tendency to be perfectionists.Moreover, most of the people who are in this group are academicians, students from well-known universities and successful managers.It means, having concrete evidence as indicators of their success or getting rewards in their fields doesn’t convince them to believe they are sufficiently good at what they do.

 According to the psychologists, the best way to overcome the imposter syndrome is talking to  others who experience the same feelings. The reason is, it helps to acknowledge your feelings and understand your strengths and weaknesses but above all, you will realize successful people around you who are considered as the persons in unachievable positions or much better than others are sharing the same feelings;this realization may convince you to accept yourself as a person with weaknesses, not a someone who always has to be perfect. 

                                                                                              Sueda  Dinç

CRITICAL THINKING

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally and understand  the reasonable links between ideas. At universities, critical thinking is an important skill enabling students to learn efficiently. Instructors expect their students to adopt this approach However, critical thinking is different from regular or everyday thinking. A person thinks critically by following these three steps, namely, analyzing, evaluating and developing a position.

First of all, critical thinking starts with analyzing. Careful thinkers focus on complexities and they try to see different sides of an issue . People compare and contrast to explain similarities and differences. In addition, they categorize information and identify it by breaking it into parts. Therefore, the process of analyzing is not a quick and passive activity.

Secondly, the following step of critical thinking is evaluating. The evaluation  process enables people to see the value of information and whether it is good or bad. People eliminate most useful and reliable information by using this method. Moreover, confirming relevance and considering arguments are the key parts of evaluation. By dint of these, critical thinking allows people to protect themselves from manipulation and bias.

Thirdly, the last step is developing a solution or position to think critically. Asking basic questions helps people to find simple solutions. Critical thinkers formulate the question, gather and apply the information, consider implications and finally explore other points of view. This process allows a person to explain why he or she is agrees or disagrees. Furthermore, being aware of personal prejudices and influences enables people to make the best decision.

To sum up, critical thinking is a purposeful, reasoned and well directed activity which increases the probability of a desirable outcome. It involves solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods and making decisions.  It is necessary for  college students but everybody can use it in daily life. 

WHAT IS CYBERCRIME?

     Cybercrime is simply defined as crimes that are directly related to computers and internet networks. Computers, codes and software are weapons of the cybercriminals. Cybercriminals often commit crimes by targetting networks or devices. You might wonder  why computers are used for cybercrime. If criminals are capable of writing codes, they can readily access your identity data. So, why do people commit cybercrime? There are three reasons which are linked to attackers.

          The first group commits cybercrimes to make money in illegal ways. They access people’s bank accounts or credit card information. Then, they steal their money without touching it. So these criminals are motivated by money. The second group is motivated by protest, opinion and laws. This group includes hactivists. Their purpose is basically making a protest. The third group might surprise you because you might have trusted your government but governments commit cybercrime against their own citizens. For instance, when the Arap spring occured in April 2011,the government of Egyp spied on their own citizens. The government of Egyp secretly took all of the communication of citizens.

          On the other hand, why can't we realize cybercrimes? Cybercrimes are committed at most in a few seconds in the background of your computer. You can't notice it/ what is going on. The cybercriminals are very professional and organized and it isn't difficult for them to access your identity data. You might think about how they can do it easily. For example, if you went to a porn site, you were probably hacked. To put it simply, you can get infected this way. Cybercriminals design trojans for accessing and stealing your data. They distribute these malicious codes. These malicious codes can be in a photo which looks innocent. Therefore, you can't realize them. There are many ways to hack people. Also, cybercriminals might send a fake virus. After that, they say “let me scan your computer and clean these viruses”. If you except it, they send real viruses with your permission. Furthermore, cybercriminals are fed by dating sites because they can access your identity data from there. They can access your location because the photos contain GPS coordinates where the photos are taken.

          To sum up, security breaches, identity theft, bullying and phishing scams are types of cybercrime. We have to protect against  them. We must use a full-service internet security suite and strong passwords. You mustn't use the same password everywhere. You must change it regularly. Also, you must manage your social media settings. You must keep your personal and private information locked down. You can be protected in these ways.

Gökhan DEMİRÇİN 

          

BIOMIMICRY

Human beings have always wanted to find new things that they can use in their lives from the beginning of the beginning of time to the present day, and of course, in the future. Actually, they are not always aware of it  but the answers are already out there in nature. So we don’t have to look for them far away, they are all created for us and waiting to be discovered. This new science is called “Biomimicry” and it is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions. Thus, there can be no disadvantages, on the contrary, there are lots of advantages for people.

First of all, there is no doubt that Biomimicry enables us to improve existing technological devices in the best way. Consider the Wright Brothers who, in 1903,  invented the first flying machine based on the movements of a pigeon. This move is at the forefront for today’s scientists. For example, the invention of thermoregulation was inspired by polar bears’ fur. Likewise, the owl’s trailing edge fringe has provided clues to producing silent and more efficient onshore wind turbines because the owl is equipped to hunt in silence as a result of its wing structure. Finally, the best example of biomimicry is, I think,  that some bird species plunge into the water without spattering to see fishes clearly and this is a source of information which has been applied  to express trains in an effort  to make them quieter while traveling.

Secondly, Biomimicry can be used not only for technology but also for design. For instance, butterflies’ wing patterns are used in fashion for such things  as dresses, weddings or in decoration like the design of walls, carpets etc. Actually, even some little bugs’ beautiful crustshape is something that has inspired the design of curtains.

To sum up, the most important thing is that people should know a whole sustainable world already exists. We are just now beginning to open our eyes and realize that the questions are all around us. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves “How can we live here gracefully and maintain our lives without new inventions?” In order to do this, we need a way to remind ourselves of the existence of nature.

                                                               NİHAL TEKİN                  

WHAT IS CYBERCRIME?

Although computers and the Internet have made our lives easier in many ways, actually, they both have bad sides. This is because people also use these technologies to take advantage of others. For instance, an increasing number of domestic and international criminal activities are now using the Internet. Therefore, computers and other electronic devices can be tools used to commit  crimes or are targeted by criminals. We call this cybercrime and the real definition of cybercrime is that it is the commission of illegal acts through the use of a computers or against computer systems. However, there is more than one way to describe cybercrime.

First of all, cybercrime can involve identity theft which affects the personal life of the victim on a massive scale. Cybercriminals can do this by entering your personal information and login information such as user names and passwords, phone numbers, addresses creditcard numbers, bank account and other information that criminals can use. As a result, they can steal billions of dollars or important data in the twinkle of an eye.

Secondly, you might think that the only form of cybercrime you have to worry about is hackers stealing your financial information but unfortunately, there are far more concerns than just basic financial ones. Cybercrime can also take the form of cyberstalking, harassment, bullying and even child sexual exploitation and is a security breach before anything else . Moreover, it also includes nonmonetary offenses like creating and distributing viruses to other computers. Thus, hackers can easily access data with the intention of committing offenses.

In conclusion, nowadays cybercrime is increasing day by day in our world and it is impacting our lives. It can take many forms from stealing our information to cyberstalking. Big software providers and security agencies are in a contiual battle to best each other. However individuals should also take logical precautions by downloading the patches that security firms devise, having complicated passwords of more that 14 digits and installing effective firewalls.
                                                                      NİHAL TEKİN

THE QUALITIES OF MINORITY GROUPS

Throughout history, people have moved from their home countries to other places to derive various benefits. These kinds of people have transformed many nations into multiracial and multicultural societies. Nowadays, the rate of this change has increased significantly thanks to globalization. Due to this mass movement of people across the globe, many countries now include many other cultures, traditions and languages in addition to their own because minority groups have certain characteristics that set them apart from the nationals of the host country.

The characteristics that distinguish minority groups can be categorized into four groups which are religion, ethnic background, culture and traditions and language. These features can be considered the identification card of races. Therefore, people usually try and preserve them when they move to another country. This resistance to assimilation forms minority groups which can be regarded as the cultural richness of a country. On the other hand, although minorities consolidate the cultural diversity of the host country, certain issues may be observed due to the differences between the nationals of the host country and the minorities. To overcome these issues and preserve the peace, both the local population and the minorities should be respectful to each other. Unless this is done, cultural and ethnic conflict becomes inevitable. There are some countries which haven’t given adequate rights to minorities to speak their language and practice their culture and faced many problems due to that approach and one example is Turkey which includes many ethnic groups. Past governments didn’t used to give minorities the permission to use their mother tongue freely and that caused a lot of civil unrest. Furthermore, there were some attacks on minorities which ended in mass migrations of these people out of the country. There are many countries in the world which have been very intolerant towards minority groups in history and suffered the consequences. Countries should respect minorities’ beliefs but the minorities, in turn, should respect the beliefs of the host population. The latter should learn the language of the host country to be able to better communicate; this is the most important step of adaptation. For instance, in Germany, many Turks have not learnt German despite being there many years; therefore, the barrier between The Turks and The Germans still stands causing some cultural and social conflicts in Germany. Conversely, there are some countries, such as Switzerland, which show that minorities and locals can live in peace. Such countries benefit from the resulting harmony.

In conclusion, minorities are good for a country as they provide cultural diversity. A suitable environment for cultural interaction should be provided to increase harmony everywhere in the world as minorities are now a fact of life more so than ever. Unless this is done, the resulting social and cultural problems will be insurmountable.

                                                                                 

WHAT IS SOCIAL BUSINESS?

Social business is a kind of economic enterprise that functions in a market economy and, like other businesses, aims to make a profit from its work.   Unlike other kinds of business however, making profit is not its main interest and it does not exist to make its owners rich. Social business is an enterprise set up to serve a social need, such as the relief of poverty or provision of healthcare.  Some examples of social-business activities may be micro-credit, glaucoma clinics for the poor or producing low-cost, highly-nutritious food items.  The following are the 7 principles of social business originally set out by Hans Reitz of Grameen International, a Bangladeshi organisation which runs a large number of social businesses around the world.

  The first principle of social business is that its goal must be to overcome poverty or deal with some kind of social problem, not to make profit.  Of course, as a business, it needs to make profit to avoid going bankrupt.  Indeed, the second principle is that the company will be financially and economically sustainable.  The important difference from a traditional company however, is that, whereas a traditional company exists to make a profit, a social business makes a profit to exist.  This may not seem like a big difference but, actually, it involves very different, even opposite, ways of operating.

  Another aspect of social business is its ownership structure.  Investors and venture capitalists are not the owners of a social business.  To illustrate, the third principle states that if an investor invests in a social enterprise she or he may only take back the amount of the original investment.  Unlike in a capitalist firm, investors are not the owners of the enterprise and receive no dividends from the profits.  In fact, the next principle of social business is that all the profits must be reinvested in the business to improve its services.  In this way, investors may be seen more as donors, or rather lenders, than traditional investors as they receive no profit from their contribution.

  Social businesses also place great importance on environmental consciousness and fair labour-relations.   The fifth principle states that a social business must try not just to avoid doing damage to the environment but to actively protect and improve it.  Likewise, the sixth principle of social business is that all employees must be paid a fair wage and working conditions should be as good as possible.  As the aim of social business is to improve and serve society, it stands to reason that they should be good employers with happy well-looked after employees in a clean environment.  After all, the final principle of social business is to do your work with joy and a fair, clean working environment is essential for this.

   The seven principles of social business set out above, describe the approach taken by social-business organizations such as Grameen International, other enterprises may adopt slightly different approaches.  What all social businesses have in common, however, is a desire to use entrepreneurial skills and know-how to serve the poor and oppressed rather than to make a profit for the already wealthy.        

 Ebru M. (A long suffering teacher…)

Source: Yunus, Muhammad:  Building Social Business,The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s  Most Pressing Needs (PublicAffairs, New York, 2010)

THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD FRIEND

Human beings are highly intelligent, sensitive and social creatures who thrive within a social circle. Their daily activities bring them into contact with a wide variety of people first and foremost of whom are family members. It is true that blood is thicker than water and family is important but there is another group of people who are just as close, if not closer: friends. For most people, their friends are often closer and more important to them than certain family members and rightly so. It is generally agreed that a good friend needs to both have the correct attitude and a certain world view.

The way friends approach each other and the way they react to events and each other are important in strengthening and preserving the bonds of friendship. A good friend should be supportive when necessary, standing by his friend and just being there for him; yet he also has to be ready to bite the bullet and tell his friend the unpleasant truths he may prefer not hear. A good friend is not a yes man; he needs to be honest, frank and sincere and that can involve admonitions as well: if a person is making a fool of himself, he needs to be told and who better to do this than a friend. For all this to work absolute confidence in each other is essential. Without trust and good will, a friendship cannot endure.

Friends also need to share a common world view; in other words, they have to be on the same page concerning major issues. Conflict in areas like attitudes to human rights violations, aggression, charity work, respect for the law, work ethics, love of nature and the like can end a friendship. With a common world view come the activities which friends can take part in together further cementing the relationship: friends could go camping together enjoying the outdoors and nature, they can take part in projects like HABITAT and help build houses for the poor,  they can work together enjoying each other’s company and their work. In short, friends require common ground to be able to grow their relationship.

In conclusion, good friends are worth their weight in gold so they need to be kept close. They are hard to come by so once found, they should be loved and respected. Those who have the love and support of good friends need to realize how very lucky they are and not take their relationships for granted. 

A PERSON WITH A STRONG CHARACTER

People come in all shapes and sizes and with radically different personalities. While some are more jovial, others are dour; while some are more happy-go-lucky, others are worriers. Yet weather predominantly nefarious or angelic, some have strong characters and others don’t. There have been some notable “strong characters” in history and there are many in the modern world. There is a certain amount of confusion as to what constitutes a strong character and how such people differ from other people around them.

First of all, there is vast difference between the terms “a truly good person” and a person with a strong character: a strong character may be truly nefarious possessing all the questionable qualities of the dark Machiavellian triad or completely angelic. Whereas Jesus, for example, was good in the strongest sense of the word and had a strong character to boot, Stalin was totally evil and also had a strong character. Whereas there some truly pure hearted individuals who are good people, they may also be meek, or afraid of friction, or easily lead, or simply shy and retiring, which most definitely means they don’t have strong characters. A person with a strong character has immense reserves of inner strength which no amount of opposition will be able to deplete. In short, such a person has the power of his convictions and will not back down if he believes he is on the right path.

Second of all, people with strong characters have been tried and tested by circumstances and have remained upright. No amount of opposition daunted Gandhi, for example; nothing could persuade him to turn away from the philosophy he held so dear: non-violent protest. The most serious weapon in his arsenal was going on hunger strike and it always worked due to the love his people felt for him. Both Martin Luther King and Luther were strong characters who suffered due to what they believed in yet remained steadfast. Hitler, the evil leader of the Nazi’s, also suffered during his childhood and early youth and during his rise to power yet good, he was most certainly not. Stalin and Chairman Mao were both strong characters who came from peasant families and clawed their way to power. They had strong characters but were not good in any sense of the word as the millions whose blood was on their hands would testify.

To sum up, having a strong character should not be confused with being good. People with all kinds of different personalities may have strong, unshakeable characters which have been molded through their experiences. Such people have gone the extra mile and remained standing and that is what makes them strong; not whether they are good or evil.

WHAT IS DEPARTMENTATION?

Departmentation  means  dividing a large organisation into smaller units. In  other words, it is the process of grouping  work activities . Owing to expanding business , the number of tasks and people is growing  with it. It is impossible for a single person to  control all the  employees. The overseeing of employees is provided  by departmentation in four main forms. The division/distinction  is made according to type of duty/function/role in the organization or the production process , what kind of products are manufactured, in which geography goods are sold, by which customer groups products  are purchased. Most people are aware of the positive aspects of departmentation, but they may not be aware of the disadvantages.

Functional departmentation is the most common  form of the division. It’s easy to control  the functions or workers by means of a very simple process of grouping activities. This method maintains power and prestige. However, it reduces coordination between sections and also causes managers to lose sight of  overall  objectives . Distinction by product quality is a commonly seen form of  division in addition to functional division. This type ensures better customer service since employees know what  they produce. It assists in the development of all round managerial talent and makes control effective. Nevertheless, it is expensive as duplication of service functions occurs in various product divisions.

Another parameter to divide a job is regarding its territory. Territorial departmentation helps to cater to the needs of local people more satisfactorily. Plus, it assists in the development of domains . Yet, it may lead to communication problems between the head office and  the regional office due to lack of means of communication at some locations; thus, coordination between various divisions may become difficult. The last kind of division is built on customer basis. It provides  focus on the customers who are the buyers . Employees who are masters/experts  in their area may give better service to customers having different needs and tastes. Even though  their expertise is  valid , specialized sales staff may become desperate with the downward movement of sales to any specified group of customers.

To sum up, in spite of  the drawbacks of dividing, it is necessary to manage  big organizations successfully. Therefore,  all kinds of departmentation will exist as the best way to administer  any large scale establishment.

WHAT IS GENOCIDE?

GENOCIDE

  Genocide is a term which is used to describe violence against members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group. This term defines a crime which has been committed by humans throughout history; however, it was not defined as a crime until 1944. In 1944, Ramphel Lempkin, who was a Polish-Jewish lawyer, coined the word “genocide” in his text  “Axis Rule In Occupied Europe”. Defining  the features of “genocide” and the genocide timeline throughout history, especially during the late period. It is important  in order to understand the term.

  In 1944, Raphael Lempkin coined the term “genocide”. This term is a combination of  the Greek word genos which means race or tribe, and the Latin word cide which means to kill. Raphel Lempkin faced  massacres from his childhood to his adulthood. As a boy, he was horrified when he learnt/ed about  the examples massacres in history. As a adult, he confronted the  Nazis for their crimes against European Jews. As a result of these/all this, he defined the term “genocide”  in order to  enter it  into the world of international law in the hopes of punishing such crimes against humanity. The UN confirmed its Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and this convention defined genocide as any of a number of acts “ committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” This definition involved killing or serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. In addition to this, genocide is separated from other crimes against  humanity such as ethnic cleansing in terms of the aim.  Ethnic cleansing aims to expel a group from a geographic area by killing or other methods. It is important to understand crimes against humanity throughout history.

   When it comes to the genocide timeline after the definition and features, this timeline includes major conceptual and legal advances in the development of the term genocide. When Lempkin coined the term genocide , Nazi soldiers were killing European Jews. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor on January 30,1933, and The Nazi Party took control of Germany. Afterwards,  World War II began on September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Polish Jews were killed or forced to live in ghettoes where disease and starvation triggered death. Nazi soldiers did not kill only Jews but also Gypsies, the disabled and homosexuals. All of those who were  termed “undesirables” with no future in the Nazi State were killed . After the war, the International Military Tribunal was established by US, Great Britain, France and The Soviet Union, and major Nazi German leaders were  put on trial on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Crimes against humanity did not end with The Holocaust. War crimes and ethnic conflicts occurred in former Yugoslavia between 1992-1995.  The most tragic massacre in this war took place in Srebrenica, which is a small town in Bosnia. Serbian forces murdered as many as 8,000 Bosnian men and boys. The United Nations Security Council established The International Criminal Tribunal for  former Yugoslavia to judge war criminals. In 1994, members of The Hutu majority in Rwanda killed 500,000 to 800,000 people, most of whom were members of The Tutsi minority.  UN established The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was located in Tanzania. As with  former Yugoslavia, the international community did not make enough effort to stop the crimes while they were occurring.

    In conclusion, many crimes against humanity have been committed throughout history, and these crimes are still occurring in certain regions or provinces nowadays. The psychology of individuals and societies has been affected by these crimes. The term genocide was defined late. This negatively influenced the legal system, and people suffered.,  Humanity has to thank  Raphael Lempkin because  he coined the term “genocide”. Authorities started to punish genocide thanks to him.

DEFINITION ESSAY: MANAGERS

In today's world, business life is an inseparable part of people's lives. Many people are working more and more to have good living conditions and meet their needs. In this busy working period, workers also need an ideal manager who tries to improve his/her company to a great extent. There are two basic qualities which an ideal manager should have: leadership and communication skills.

First of all, an ideal manager must have leadership qualities. Managers generally organize issues and workers. While organizing work, they have to plan everything in the correct order, which is very important for companies' improvement. Moreover, when workers encounter big problems, they must look at them from different perspectives and work towards innovative solutions. By means of these, they could make the right decisions as well as make a profit. Ideal managers are also role models for workers. Workers usually act like their managers. If their managers do not give enough importance to their responsibilities, workers behave like that. That's why , managers should have high expectations and encourage workers to work even in very limited conditions.

Another fundamental quality is communication skills. Managers usually speak with workers and arrange various informative conferences. At these times, they should speak more fluently and clearly as well as give a good impression. Managers should also treat workers well; for example , they must not shout or abuse them. If this is the case, there will not be any problems or conflict between workers and managers. In addition, managers could speak calmly and supportively. Thus, workers will be encouraged on a large scale and achieve their goals easily.

To sum up , an ideal manager  must have two specific qualities which are leadership and communication skills. Managers should encourage workers, make the right decisions and aim to improve companies. They, in addition, must have good face to face communication skills to give a good impression. If they have these features, their companies will make a profit easily

CAPOIREA: THE FIGHTING DANCE

Capoirea was developed in the state of Bahia, Brazil in the 1800s by African slaves. They expressed themselves to their owners in this way. After African slaves gained their freedom, this dance reached more people than before, so it became famous in the country. Nowadays, Capoirea is seen/ enjoyed almost all over the world . Furthermore,there are a lot of fans who enjoy Capoirea. It is defined as a sort of Brazilian dance / It is accepted that Capoirea is a sort of dance from Brazil. Yet, this kind of dance is more varied than other kinds of dance. It includes ‘fighting’.

Capoiera, also called a martial art, has an impact on the human body and mind. Those enjoying this unusual art believe that it makes them feel relaxed. In fact, it integrates the power of the  body with the strength of the mind and spirit. Furthermore, movements and steps in this cultural dance require a connection between the body and soul. Hence, Capoirea has many players all over the world.

Apart from relaxing thanks to the connection  between the body and the soul, this martial art doesn’t discriminate  between males and females. Some sorts of dances follow in such a way and women don’t participate. However, women can take part in this  valuable art  as well due to the fact that there is no challenging fighting in Capoirea.

Another effect of  Capoirea is helping homeless people and street children who are at risk of getting into trouble. Well, how does it work? The response is the Project Axe, enabling them to have a better life. The programmes of Project Axe consists of several educational factors  for children or teenagers such as music and fashion design in addition to the teaching of Capoirea. Moreover, it can be helpful in basic education. Yet, the first maxim to join this project and be a member of the Capoirea team is  going back home or going to a foster home.

All in all, Capoirea is a part of the tradional culture in Brazil. It makes people feel more energetic as well as more productive; it has many impacts on the challenges. in life. Hence, this martial art, which is a gift from history, seems to be retaining its importance in the world.

THE QUALITIES OF A STATE

Since the earliest permanent settlements, states have existed in crowded human communities in order to make social life easier and regulate the relations among members. Over thousands of years, states have taken many forms ranging from monarchies  to democracies. Today, the concept of the state is more important than ever and they have very clear responsibility towards their citizens.

The foremost duty of a state is to create a secure atmosphere. Many countries are confronted with not only domestic but also external threats such as clashes, riots, terrorism and armed attacks of countries. A decent state has to prevent or supress such events by using  its intelligence agencies, diplomacy or armed force (police or the army). By doing so, the state is supposed to make all the citizens feel safe in their homes, offices or streets.

The other responsibility of a state is to provide justice. Nobody wants to live in a country where injustice is prevalent. People need a superior or power to ensure justice, to punish the guilty and restore order. In modern societies, the state is the only power that can fulfill these conditions including the police to catch the criminals, the detective to collect evidence, and the court to judge the people. Via its  agencies, the state ensures justices for all citizens and punishes those who deserve a punishment.

All in all, states can be regarded as a guarantee to ensure security and justice. Unless the state fulfills duties, the people may show unexpected reactions or even rise against the state.

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Throughout history, people have expressed themselves in different ways which could be writing, dancing, smiling or drawing on the walls. Whereas speaking is the most prevalent sort of communication, our relationship with people is affected by our nonverbal communication skills which are facial expressions and gestures.

To begin with, one of the most effective nonverbal communication skills is our facial expressions that alter according to the situation. For instance, while a smile can be related to happiness, a frown can be concerned with anger or sadness. In such instances, since we can see a person’s emotions on his face, we don’t need to speak to understand his/her feeling.

Secondly, gestures which include waving, pointing and using fingers are also very effective and important types of nonverbal communication in relationships. Today, people can express many things with only gestures. For deaf people, sign language has been developed and it indicates how important gestures are. Not only deaf people but also teachers, politicians and advertisers usually use gestures to express something during a conversation which can be a lecture, a seminar or an advertisement to be more influential.

In conclusion, nonverbal behaviour, which is communication without speaking, has always been very important. It is very effective in relationships and might be noticed everywhere.

IDEAL DEMOCRACY

   Democratic regimes have become one of the most applied government models in the world. Despite its prevalence, democracy is a term on which authorities cannot find a middle ground. Likewise, the mode of application of democracy differs from country to country. However, there are a bunch of characteristics  which help form an ideal democracy.   

    The first quality of an ideal democracy is the right to vote. To put it another way, each citizen must have an equal opportunity to vote. There must not be discrimination in voting according to gender, race or religion and every citizen must be able to participate in government through voting. At the start of the democratic  regime in Turkey, for example, women did not have the right to vote. Similarly, in that period, many other countries were not giving women the right to vote. Thus, it was hard to speak of democracy there.
   Secondly, the whole decision making process has to depend on laws. As all citizens must obey the laws, the government and other authorities who have legislative power must act  within the framework of laws as well. In ideal democracies, laws are  superior to every other thing and everyone has responsibility for them. At the same time, laws are made by the government, implicitly by the nation and they are altered when it seems required.
   Another typical quality of democracy covers its main structure: all kinds of ideas must be represented, yet decisions must be made in terms of the majority's inclination. In today's world, democracy is provided with councils in many countries and they must consist of every perspective of the nation. In some countries like Turkey, however, because of the election threshold, a lot of minorities' ideas cannot be represented in the council and this prevents the application of ideal democracy.
   In conclusion, there is an animated debate over what democracy is exactly. However, the main qualities of democracy are obvious: voting equality, laws and representation of the whole society. By applying these main points, it is possible to construct an ideal democracy.

WHAT IS VOODOO?

                                                                   

Voodoo has been portrayed in movies, television series and popular books as dark and evil, a cult of devil worship dominated by black magic, human and animal sacrifice, and pin-stuck dolls. Yet thousands of people adhere to its precepts because voodoo is not the evil thing that is portrayed in those movies and books.

Voodoo is an official religion that is derived from African spiritual practices and born in West Africa, then spread to the Americans and the Caribbean. Voodoo is culturally similar to Judaism or Christianity but doesn't have a sacred text, a church or hierarchical structure of leaders. In Voodoo, there is only one true God and practitioners communicate with him through thousands of different spirits. These spirits are the dead people of their community: voodooists believe that death is a transition from the visible, i.e. physical, world to the invisible, i.e. spiritual, world, so predecessors are still with them in spirit to intercede between God and man and help men's concerns through their counseling. Voodooists call spirits Loas who are comparable to Christian Saints. Most Loas are helpful, but some can be mischievous and tricky to deal with. Every believer of Voodoo has direct contact with the spiritual world through Loas, who can be anywhere at anytime, but, as in other religions, there are prominent and respected figures because of their strong connections with the spirits. Those figures are called Houngan or Mambo who are comparable to priests and priestesses. They are, also, expected to perform many social functions which can show great variation from place to place within Voodoo beliefs and practices because Voodoo is a community-centered religion. For example, in places where conditions are very desperate, Voodoo is often focused on survival, so generally Loas are called to heal the sick. On the other hand, sometimes men demand something from Loas, but  sometimes Loas demand something from men and when that happens, even for priests, it can be dangerous to disobey spirit's wishes. To exemplify, years ago, a Loa demanded that the daughter of a priest become a medium but the priest wanted her to get a modern education, so he disobeyed. Over years, she didn't understand what the teacher was saying in the class and she couldn't hear when the teacher spoke to her. Then the priest realized that the Loa was performing his plan, so, he let her become a medium to achieve her potential.

In spite of these harmless facts about Voodoo, there is so much misunderstanding about it because theWest created a scary image of it in movies and series for their own valid reasons. Voodoo is rooted in slavery and intricately connected to their political and social evolution. Its first practices were done by slaves of African descent who were not even considered fully human. So, their religion was seen as superstition; their priests were denigrated as witch doctors, and their God and spirits were denounced as evil because they were slaves. In addition to these disparaging attitudes towards them, there has been one successful slave revolution which provoked a great fear in European and American colonies, in modern history, in Haiti, where Voodoo was born. Slaves of African descent, many of them Voodooists fighting for freedom, overthrew European rulers and took control of the country. When all of these facts are considered, it is seen why the image and vocabulary of Voodoo  is associated with disturbing and horrifying images in our minds and created a mythology that we have taken as truth thanks to  Hollywood.

All in all, Voodoo is not how it is seen: it is a religion which is practiced by thousands of people. So, people should have a respectful attitude toward it; not a fearful one to stop this misunderstanding. Through education and getting to know the facts about it, people can overcome that fear.

BUDDHISM

   

People know Buddhism as a religion but actually it is a philosophy. Its leader is Siddhartha Gautama. He is called Buddha which means the enlightened one or the awakened. When he was born, a holy man prophesized that this boy would be a spiritual and wise leader. He lived in an opulent palace until he reached 29 and he did not experience poverty or pain; however; he was not happy. Thus, he understood that wealth and prosperity could not give happiness. Therefore, he abandoned his family and his wealth and began to search for the source of happiness. He found it when he meditated and he was enlightened. Then, he began to explain  his methods to others thus Buddhism emerged. It is a philosophy which can be understood with practice and it helps people to reach real happiness.

Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development. Therefore, people cannot embrace it when they just know information about Buddhism or just think about it. They should also practice meditation and they should practice with a peaceful mind because if their minds are filled with anger, fantasy or worry, they cannot focus on the practice and they cannot reach happiness. In addition, people’s happiness depends on conditions but Buddha’s happiness does  not. Therefore, it is difficult to reach Buddha’s happiness so embracing  Buddhism can take years.

People suffer from problems, obstacles or illnesses. They want  wealth, health and welfare because they think that these provide happiness but Buddha knew that this is not true. He thinks that if people end their dissatisfactions, they reach real happiness. Therefore, he aimed to teach people how to reach real happiness. He helped people to reduce pain, overcome obstacles and attain enlightenment. When he died, the Sangha community which included  his students continued to teach this.

To sum up, Buddhism is not a religion, it is a philosophy. Buddha was not God. He was a spiritual and enlightened leader who reached  real happiness thanks to meditation. He shared his experience with other people so Buddhism emerged. It helps people to find real happiness. However, it cannot be understood easily. People should practice many years to embrace it completely.

BEYZANUR YAZICI