Language of Emotions by Nevzat Tarhan
Emotions, which are actually a scientific category, had been either neglected or exploited until the 90’s. While the West ignores emotions and sanctifies the reason as the only actual value, the East fails to realize its own richness and does not care well enough about educating the emotions. As the emotional intelligence has been discovered, the role of emotions in our lives hs drawn more attention. But now teachings such as Buddhism, which idealize abandoning the world totally, have been promoted. However, what needs to be done is connecting the results of scientific researches with human values.
Professor Doctor Nevzat Tarhan analyzes all emotions, negative or positive, one by one (love, trust, hope, pessimism, mercy, compassion, happiness, feeling of aesthetic, responsibility, loyalty, justice, patience, feeling of eternity, selfishness, pride, arrogance, superiority, feeling embarrassed, doubt, jealousy, anger, grudge, grief, hate). Analyzing the ways of using positive feelings more efficiently, the book also explains the methods for fighting against the negative feelings and how these could be converted into individual and social advantages.
Right, Left and Front Brain Lobes
Being particularly careful about supporting his arguments in his books with scientific facts, Tarhan follows the same method in The Language of Emotions. The author explains the mental procedures conducted by right and left lobes through the developments in neurology field.
We know that left brain collects the data and gives meanings to those. It also produces rational and strategic thoughts and makes plans for the long run. Sentences starting with words, ‘if’ and ‘but’, come from our left brain lobe. Right brain lobe controls emotions, and cares about warmth and intimacy. It mostly produces sentences starting with ‘soon’ and ‘now’.
Defining left brain as masculine and right brain as feminine, Tarhan gives advices on how to use these two brain lobes properly. At this point, new information related to front brain step in. Front brain that connects reason and emotion processes the data. That’s why, people who have coordination between two brain lobes, are good at balancing reason and emotion well.
A Regained Tradition
Nevzat Tarhan discusses emotional intelligence, which is the ability to discipline and control emotions and taking control over the feelings when necessary, with the scientific facts and historical background. Concepts that are historically based in the East; such as, insisting on justice even when it is against one’s own interests; leaving the power aside when necessary, caring about righteousness are discussed in the book as traditions that are reborn. In a sense, Tarhan reinterprets the emotional intelligence through the East’s and the West’s values. According to the author, the book aims to explain the readers the roots of their emotions and help them to guide themselves.