TÜBA Honorary Member Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil “I was introduced to science when I was 10 and still cannot part from it”
World famous Turkish surgeon and TÜBA Honorary Member Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil, gave a conference titled “The Contributions of Micro Neurosurgery to the Art of Medicine” at the General Assembly of the Turkish Academy of Sciences on December 20th. After the introduction by TÜBA Council Member Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker, Yaşargil’s speech addressed to the Academy members was followed with great interest.
Starting his speech with anecdotes about his family and education, world famous scientist Prof. Yaşargil continued as follows “When I was abroad my country never left my mind either emotionally or as an ideal, I constantly worked to contribute something. Every culture selects skilled brains. Despite all natural and social challenges, science continues on paths that are not straight but winding. The human brain has nothing to do with the brain of a monkey. But on the other hand we are related to all the living organisms in nature. I have been working on the brain for 40 years and soon the results of our work will be disclosed at the Yeditepe University. For example the issue is not the lobe but in the folds. The intellectual, mental and social structure of the brain is so amazing that it changes as new information is obtained. This is why the brain continues to develop and change and has not yet taken on its final form. We know the value of our brain biologically or universally but do not accept it socially. Communication technology is advancing so much, there is a technological device in everyone’s hand and a completely different dependency will emerge.
There are individual groups of technology, mathematics, art and philosophy. The most important of these groups is competition… And only humans compete. Birds do not complete. This is only in humans. Competing is very important… It is very important both physically and mentally to be better, to be more outstanding, more honest, more accurate, more creative”.
After his speech which lasted over 1 hour, Prof. Yaşargil explained how some of the problems he faced in his profession which appeared impossible could be solved with surgery and added that physicians should never be pessimistic, emphasized that bad results should never be attributed to the patient and presented examples from his own experience. “Problems that were claimed should never be touched and problems in the brain stem are now solvable” he said and gave examples of patients whose problems had been eliminated allowing them to continue living a healthy life.
Prof. Dr. Yaşargil also said “If we know the brain structure we can enter through a tiny incision and perform surgery. Views created by an individual’s insight are about qualities like senses, emotions, memory, skill, experience and will. Everyone will develop their brain. Our every move is created in the brain at one-one thousandths of a second. No matter how realistic the perception is the images that are seen are each a sensory interpretation”.
Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil finished his presentation with the words “You are not just a brain but each of you is an outstanding structure”.
