Issue 85

  • 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. Locations ranged from Australia t

    Published January - February 2012 - The Fountain

    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 minds have always accepted it as s

    Published January - February 2012 - M. Fethullah Gulen

    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 knew that something was wr

    Published January - February 2012 - Esen Bakhautdin

    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 economic agent named as "homo-ec

    Published January - February 2012 - Devrim Bulut

    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 spread their mesmerizing scents

    Published January - February 2012 - Sermed Ogretim

    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 "President Obama" and

    Published January - February 2012 - Fatih Gelgi

    Bustling Willpower

    Fate sometimes blows As gently as breezes; At other times it blows as tough As raging northeasters Rendering huge mountains to dust, Rendering feet to heads Razing heads to the ground. Sometimes caressing woeful bosoms A

    Published January - February 2012 - M. Fethullah Gulen

    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 of life of a given society. Our c

    Published January - February 2012 - Osman Senkaya

    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 answers have been wide-ranging,

    Published January - February 2012 - Murat Yuksel

    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 analyzing whether this could

    Published January - February 2012 - Karin De Villa

    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 and make them pleased or cont

    Published January - February 2012 - M. Fethullah Gulen

    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 (protons with negative charges).

    Published January - February 2012 - M. Fatih Yilmaz

    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, extremists, politicians,

    Published January - February 2012 - Mirkena Ozer

    Speech and Power of Expression

    Speech and Power of Expression: On Language, Aesthetics, and Belief M. Fethullah Gülen Translated by Korkut Altay 9781597842297 Tughra Books, 2010 Mankind has been given exclusive possession of speech-a weapon so powerful

    Published January - February 2012 - Nisa Nur Terzi

    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 hierarchically organized components:

    Published January - February 2012 - Nuri Balta

    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, like a human mother's womb full

    Published January - February 2012 - Musa Ilhan

    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 culture" (Institution, 2010). Th

    Published January - February 2012 - Daniel Hummel

    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 heart disease. They say in the bac

    Published January - February 2012 - Mustafa Tabanli

    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 not just for your information. Of

    Published January - February 2012 - Irfan Yilmaz

    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 in the sense that we unders

    Published January - February 2012 - Hikmet Isik

    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 in the body. This high

    Published January - February 2012 - The Fountain

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