January 2012 - Monthly Archive

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

The Fountain

13814

Our Big Small World

The past year was a busy one for The Fountain. In cooperation with many local NGOs and authorities, The Fountain organized quite a number of panels, seminars, and conferences all around the world. Loc... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

M. Fethullah Gulen

17035

Virtue and Happiness

Those who promise happiness to people must equip them with virtues first. Happiness is out of reach for those whose hearts have not been saturated with virtue. From the past to the present, sound mind... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Esen Bakhautdin

15472

Coping with Autism

"When I took my one-year old son to the supermarket, he never responded to other mothers' playful overtures. I used to tell them, 'Oh, he just woke up from his nap.' He was very unresponsive baby. We read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Devrim Bulut

14844

The Optimizing Man

In 1881, F. Edgeworth defines the first principle of economics such that every agent is motivated only by self-interest. The idea of self-interest motivation is conceptualized with a hypothetical econ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Seth Mette

15810

Hearing the Light

On a Saturday morning, I was sitting in the nearby park in our neighborhood. It was especially lovely to do it at this time of the year. The birds start chanting after a winter-long silence, flowers s... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Fatih Gelgi

16723

The Difficulty of Modeling the Brain with Artificial Neurons

“The human brain, then, is the most complicated organization of matter that we know.”Isaac Asimov If someone asks what you recall when you look at the following pictures, I can hear you say ‘Pres read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

M. Fethullah Gulen

16614

Bustling Willpower

Fate sometimes blows As gently as breezes;At other times it blows as toughAs raging northeastersRendering huge mountains to dust,Rendering feet to heads Razing heads to the ground.Sometimes caressing ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Osman Senkaya

22668

Same World, Different Lenses: A Brief Overview of Cultural Differences

According to the British writer Raymond Williams, culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in English. It has many definitions but here is the crux to remember: Culture is the way ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Murat Yuksel

18124

The Power Law

The desire of explaining things and trends around us has been a decisive component of wisdom. The complexity of nature challenges human thought and experience to answer the question of “why.” The answ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Karin De Villa

30971

Myth or Reality: The “Invasion” and Spread of Islam in Spain

The majority of Spaniards, as well as people worldwide that have heard about "Muslim Spain," know about the conquest of Spain, (Hispania at the time) by the Arabs. However, few deepen their search in ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

M. Fethullah Gulen

17939

Inbisat (Expansion)

Literally meaning growing larger and deeper, spreading and expanding, Sufis use inbisat to signify the relaxing of one's heart, to the extent allowed by the religion, so that it can embrace everybody ... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

M. Fatih Yilmaz

16401

Towards the dream of Star Trek: Antimatter

In physics, matter is defined as the composition of particles such as electrons, protons, and neutrons. Antimatter is composed of antiparticles such as anti-electrons (positrons) and antiprotons (prot... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Mirkena Ozer

17392

Who Speaks for Islam?

"Who Speaks for Islam? What Do 1.3 Billion Muslims Really Think?"John L. Esposito, Dalia Mogahed 978-1595620170 Gallup Press, 2008 To date, many have spoken for Islam: experts, apologists, extremist read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Ayse Meva Nur

17004

Speech and Power of Expression

Speech and the Power of Expression: On Language, Aesthetics, and BeliefFethullah GulenTranslated by Korkut Altay9781597842297Tughra Books, 2010 Mankind has been given exclusive possession of speec... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Nuri Balta

17337

Are We Big Enough to Be Arrogant?

A small-scale blueprint of the universe, the human body is a miraculous work of art that manifests the beautiful divine names and attributes of God Almighty. A human body is made up of a set of hie... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Musa Ilhan

16856

How I Wish I Could Be a Seed

How I wish I could be a seed, embedded within the bosom of the earth. Protected I would be from all external elements which may cause me harm. A comfortable and familiar environment I would be in, lik... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Daniel Hummel

18227

The Cultural Perspective and Societal Change

Society is built on institutions; this is an inescapable fact. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, an institution is “a significant practice, relationship, or organization in a society or cultu... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Mustafa Tabanli

22904

The Heart-Mind Connection

Dr. Windsor Ting and Dr. Gregory Fricchione examine the mind-body connection in their remarkable book The Heart-Mind Connection. Research shows that negative emotions can actually cause or worsen hear... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Irfan Yilmaz

22286

The Human Being in Numbers: Last Lesson for Peter

Dear Peter! Until today, almost all of your organs and systems introduced themselves and explained the great artistry in their creation along with their wisdom and precision. Certainly, these were no... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

Hikmet Isik

23158

The Prophet Muhammad's Illiteracy

Question: Was the Prophet illiterate throughout his life? Or did he-the one for whom veils were lifted with the verse "Read!", and thus who could read the mysteries of the universe-ever read and write... read more..

31 Dec

Issue 85 (January - February 2012)

The Fountain

17023

Fixing obesity in the brain

1- Fixing obesity in the brain Original article: Czupryn, A. et al., Science 334, 1133 (2011). Neurons are a highly specialized group of cells that transmit electrical stimuli to elicit responses read more..