The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
| Emily Esfahani Smith: G.K Chesterton once said. Chesterton said that people who listen to music excessively are afraid of their own thoughts. |
I didn't know that Chesterton said that, Emily, but I know that I've been saying it, in just those words, since I moved to Turkey. It's very striking: Turks cannot bear silence. They simply can't stand it. There must always be noise, usually in the form of the worst, most tuneless techno music. This is quite puzzling, given that techno music is as far as you can get from the Turkish musical tradition, which is rich and notably rhythmically complex.
Someone could write quite a good essay about the Turkish enthusiasm for techno--about the Turkish passion for all things they believe to be Western, and how often this means a passion for the very worst the West has to offer, not the best. You can't eat in a restaurant here without hearing the techno music blaring; you can't shop in a store without hearing the techno music blaring; you can't take a taxi without hearing the techno music blaring. In a city of some 15 million people, which is inherently more than noisy enough--especially since "Under Construction" here is a permanent state, like Revolution--this often pushes things well into the realm of the totally unbearable. Often I'll walk into a store and the shopkeeper will immediately leap up to turn up the music--the assumption is that I'll feel more welcome if the music is louder. On occasion I've asked a cab driver to turn it off, but it's so clear that driving in silence is painful for him, almost torturous, that I usually relent and say, "Well, if you're enjoying it, go ahead and put it back on." You can see the relief flood his face when he does.
I'm not quite sure what it means, but I do think it's significant. The noise is masking something, a deep discomfort with the self, or a fear of it. It has something to do with the way Turks understand the individual--it's insignificant, compared to the family, and it is to be subordinated to the needs of the group; Turks conceive of themselves as cogs in a larger social unit; being alone seems to be a fate to be feared more than any other. They are always immensely sorry for me when they learn that I live alone--the look of pity on their faces is very touching, as are the reassurances that with God's help the situation might yet improve--and it is a source of obvious bewilderment when I turn down invitations to do something noisy, involving a lot of techno music, in preference for staying home and reading quietly. I suppose this can be traced to the tribal, migrant origins of Turkish culture; Turks were always at war with another clan, having to bear the harshest of physical conditions--expulsion from the tribe meant certain death; the cultural memory of this looms large.
The concept of "individual rights" is obviously not a natural fit here. Individualism and creativity are aggressively punished. Keep that in mind when reading all those rosy depictions of the vibrant Turkish economy and predictions of its continent-straddling, brilliant future as a global economic powerhouse. I'm sure not expecting a tremendous amount of technological innovation to come out of this country any time soon, for just this reason.
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May '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
Claire Berlinski
I suppose this can be traced to the tribal, migrant origins of Turkish culture; Turks were always at war with another clan, having to bear the harshest of physical conditions--expulsion from the tribe meant certain death; the cultural memory of this looms large.
In "low-trust" societies, anyone who is not a blood relative is just potential meat for the meat-grinder. To be alone is to be extremely vulnerable. Presumably, all societies were like that until very recently. The appeal of western-european-anglo culture is that you can get into Harvard, even if your brother-in-law doesn't work in the admissions office. How the west graduated, is an interesting question.
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
A very interesting question. Can the model, if there is one, be exported?
Jun '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
Good morning, Claire. Allow me to offer an insight by way of contrast. Perhaps you've had the chance to visit one of Turkey's Sufi mosques. The mosque at Konya comes to mind, the one founded by Mevlana, the Sufi mystic. The music of Turkish mysticism is composed of strings and flutes. It's the sound you would associate with the serenity of a mind focused entirely on God. This is true of monastic institutions worldwide regardless of faith. Every monastery I have visited is characterized by order, discipline, and quietude.
The sound you hear outside the mosque is the cacophony of millions of undisciplined minds rattling about in the chaos of human activity. It's manifest most excruciatingly in the constant and needless blowing of car horns, a common characteristic of third world cities from Lima to Cairo to New Delhi. I would submit to you that where you find a city characterized by relative quiet, you have also a more focused and disciplined culture. A more orderly and law-abiding people, too.
My take anyway for what it's worth.
Jun '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
It's like what the parents of preschoolers say. "When you don't hear anything, that's the time to worry about what's going on."
May '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
How do you deliberately change fundamental cultural assumptions in a society? I have read (and believe) that it takes a minimum of three generations. And you need a force that can consistently and patiently impose the necessary change in the social environment for that long period of time. I can think of three forces, two political:
The imposition of a high trust model on a low trust society is extremely difficult. I believe it requires the wholesale takeover and long term operation of key institutions by an third party perceived as incorruptible.
Jun '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
I think Daniel Frank's points are all valid. Let me add in addition that high-trust societies enjoy one or both of the following characteristics. The first is cultural homogeneity. The Scandinavian nations and Japan come to mind. The Swedes to their great regret are now discovering the perils of importing diverse populations who show little respect for Swedish traditions compounded by low-trust attitudes.
The second characteristic is respect for the rule of law. Where a population perceives the law as fair and equitable, the result is voluntary compliance and a cooperative society. I'm in agreement with Daniel Frank that an outside power might be able to impose the rule of law, but the concept is otherwise difficult to export. We will see if our imposition on Iraq takes root. We should remember that Anglo-Saxon law has deep roots stretching back to early Germanic tribal custom. Tacitus makes specific mention of the rights and prerogatives of the individual in Germanic society.
Jun '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
I think the question is more rightly phrased, how did the West become a high trust society than how can values be exported? The first observation to be made is that the West evolved away from a tribal culture almost to the exclusion of all other societies, especially Middle-eastern. This we owe to our ability to produce copious quantities of food on a predictable basis. In short, we are good farmers. The ability to produce food means that we can support large populations not directly involved in the production of food, i.e. we can support experts in all fields, not just agricultural experts. The result is an urban society not dependant directly on the farm or tribe for sustenance. In addition, if farms are to prosper they must not be divided beyond a point: an urban fillip. Another characteristic of urban societies is that they do not distribute resources along tribal lines; they generally sell these to the highest bidder, who is more often than not a total stranger. How do we regulate the actions of strangers, as opposed to clan or family members, why with a system of laws that apply uniformly to all.
Jun '10
Re: The mass of Turks lead lives of noisy desperation
Claire: I, for one, am a lover of both solitude and silence (though I also haul around an iPod with books on tape on it in case I get really bored). I have a large family, at least by today's standards: five adult children, seven grandchildren. Family get-togethers are fun, but after about 2-3 hours I find myself drifting away for 15 minutes of silence to recharge my engines.
There is a terrific article on solitude and silence called "The End of Solitude" by William Deresiewicz on the Chronicle of Higher Ed. website (1-30-09). It's a beautifully written song of praise for at least some solitude and silence in this most noisy of ages. A short sample:
“So it is with the current generation's experience of being alone. That is precisely the recognition implicit in the idea of solitude, which is to loneliness what idleness is to boredom. Loneliness is not the absence of company, it is grief over that absence. The lost sheep is lonely; the shepherd is not lonely.”
You can find it at http://chronicle.com/article/The-End-of-Solitude/3708