If we look at our first big question for the
conference, 'what is the defect in our civilization?'
- which is a quote from Freud - from a philosophical
perspective, or a theological perspective,
religious people will argue 'well, there is
a thing called original sin.'
There is also a more enlightened perspective
which assumes there is a human nature.
What is that you would argue, concerning us
human beings, that we apparently do not learn
the lessons, or that we can turn back to the
darker zone of human life?
We do have certain dualities in front of us,
that will become very important in the next
decades.
How do we deal with identity, identity politics,
differences?
Unfortunately in today's world, because there
is so much fear, there is so much anxiety
- and I'm not belittling anxiety, I'm an anxious
person myself, so how can I belittle other
people's anxieties - but anxiety is something
we need to talk about.
And when politics is guided by anxiety or
fear that's very dangerous.
So one of the primary questions or problems,
as I see it, is this illusion that sameness
will bring safety.
People started thinking that if we are surrounded
by similar people, likeminded people, if we
have communities based on sameness that will
bring us safety.
That's an illusion.
That's not the case at all; we are far too
globalized.
So what is happening in one part of the world
affects someone in a completely different
part of the world.
The unhappiness of one individual in Pakistan
affects the life of someone in Canada.
This is the world we're living in.
So we do have to understand that we are all
in this together, as global souls, as world
citizens, and we need to revive that energy
of humanism and coexistence.
How can we live together, with our differences,
around shared, common values?
For me, one of the main common values is definitely
democracy, and definitely women's rights,
because how can you have harmony and peace
when half of the world is being pushed back
into the private space?
I see this everywhere in the Middle East,
in Turkey as well, but all around the
Middle East particularly more and more women are
being reminded of their roles as mothers,
caretakers.
More and more women are being pushed from
the public space into the private space, into
their homes.
There's a huge imbalance.
All the mystics throughout the centuries talked
about the importance of balance; we have to
balance energies.
At the moment I think the balance between
masculine energy and feminine energy is completely
broken in many parts of the world.
That, too, is a problem for me.
But isn't also a part of this - I'm very glad
that you bring up the mystics.
They are unknown in today's world, and the
people who speak are most likely intellectuals
who confuse people about sameness and the
revival of nationalism.
Here in London you have Boris Johnson; you
can make a whole list of highly educated intellectuals
who are liars.
This is the phenomenon of the 'betrayal of
the intellectuals'.
How do we deal with that?
Where does the responsibility of intellectuals
come in in our society, where they are not
accepting their responsibility, or worse,
when they are deceiving people?
I think we need to differentiate two things.
We can criticize the intelligentsia, the literati.
And that's fair enough.
But at the same time have a lot of respect
for the intellect, and try to cultivate that.
This is what I see lacking: we don't have
enough intellectual platforms where we see
people from completely different backgrounds,
different cultural, ethnic backgrounds but
also different disciplines, come together
and listen to each other.
We have been far too compartmentalized, and
I see that as a problem, because we have things
to learn from each other.
I think the world right now needs more interdisciplinary
dialogues.
So I do have a lot of respect for the intellect,
and for the role of the intellectual, which
is one of the interesting dilemmas for me,
because in the UK the word 'intellectual'
doesn't have very positive connotations, as
you know.
But I think it is important to comment on
what's happening in the world.
It means that we care about it, and we need
critical minds.
Societies can only move forward through critical
minds.
However, we should also bear in mind that
there is an amazing bulk of literature about
neuroscience, the brain.
We have defined the intellect in only one
particular way.
That also needs to change.
There are different kinds of intellect.
There's emotional intelligence as well, which
we need to put into the picture.
And you can only cultivate that through stories,
storytelling, empathy, the ability to put
yourself in the shoes of another person.
That also needs to be in these intellectual
platforms.
So intellectual doesn't necessarily mean one
particular way of looking at things, through
logic and reason.
It can be done in very different ways.
Intuition is also very important.
I think we have a lot to learn from ancient
philosophy, we have a lot to learn from each
other.
Our reading lists need to be eclectic, we
need to read from the East and the West, from
people who are different from us.
Only that diversity is going to, hopefully, give us a new boost and a new energy to move forward.
